Siddaramaiah manages to retain Mysore seat for Congress

BENGALURU: As Siddaramaiah, the former chief minister had managed to retain Mysore seat for the Congress. The JD(S) had marked Mysore and had been planning to place former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. But Siddaramaiah, who was against the move because he feared that the victory of Gowda would be consolidating the domination of Vokkaligas in the district politics even more.

Siddaramaiah, lost to JD(S) rival GT Devegowda and his political career would have been ended had he not won from Badami, the second seat he contested. "This is the reason why Siddaramaiah was opposed to giving Mysuru to the JD(S). He has successfully convinced AICC president Rahul Gandhi not to cede the seat," said a Congress leader.

The development has left Gowda with no choice but to choose between Tumkur and Bangalore North. The JD(S) has three MLAs from the Tumkur for the Lok Sabha seat whereas, Congress has one. Sources have said that, "Moreover the Vokkaligas, OBCs, SCs and Muslims, which together form the majority, are vote banks of both Congress and the JD(S)."

As far as Bengaluru North is concerned, both Congress and the JD(S) have MLAs in seven of the eight assembly segments in the parliamentary constituency. "But Gowda thinks that taking on Union minister DV Sadananda Gowda [the sitting MP] in an urban seat is not a wise decision," sources said.