Bangalore,14 Feb: Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday reiterated that upcoming Assembly elections will be his last electoral battle, but he will remain active in Karnataka politics. The former Chief Minister last month announced his decision to contest from Kolar this time, subject to approval from the Congress high command.
However, he said he is ready to enter the poll fray from whichever segment the party asks him to, whether it is from Badami or Varuna.
On Tuesday, he addressed a large number of his supporters and party workers who had come from Badami, to urge him to contest from his current constituency once again.
“You have to understand my difficulty too, I’m 76 now, and this will be my last election, I will not be contesting an election again. I will be in politics, but will not contest polls, this is my last election,” Siddaramaiah said.
The Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly said, “I have thought about contesting the election from a constituency nearer (to Bengaluru). Despite this, I will contest from wherever the high command asks me to.”
“If they ask me to contest from Badami I will contest from Badami, if they say Varuna, I will contest from there and if they say Kolar, I will contest from there. Please don’t mistake me, in case I don’t contest from Badami, I will still remain and work like a Badami MLA, I can never forget the people of Badami,” he added.
Speaking to supporters, amid repeated interruptions from them with calls to contest from Badami again, he said, “In my application to the Congress party I have said that I’m a sitting member in Badami. I will contest if the high command asks me to contest from there, if not, people from Varuna are asking me to contest from there and if the party agrees I will contest from there, people from Kolar are also calling and if asked I will contest from there.”
