Battle royale in Varuna as Siddaramaiah lock horns with Somanna

BENGALURU: The ruling party has fielded Housing Minister V Somanna against the former Chief Minister, who is fighting his last election, in this segment, where his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah won the previous polls in 2018. As the then Chief Minister, he contested from Chamundeshwari in Mysuru district from where he had been an MLA five times but had lost twice there, and Badami in Bagalkote district.

It's a battle royale in Varuna constituency in Mysuru district where the BJP with all its might has decided to take Congress strongman Siddaramaiah head on in his home turf in the May 10 Assembly election. The ruling party has fielded Housing Minister V Somanna against the former Chief Minister, who is fighting his last election, in this segment, where his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah won the previous polls in 2018.

As the then Chief Minister, he contested from Chamundeshwari in Mysuru district from where he had been an MLA five times but had lost twice there, and Badami in Bagalkote district. Siddaramaiah lost to JD(S) candidate G T Deve Gowda in Chamundeshwari but won from Badami with a margin of 1,696 votes against BJP's B Sriramulu. "We have fielded Somanna as our candidate from Varuna. You (people) make him MLA and send him to the Assembly. I'm telling you that BJP will make him a big personality...," said Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who addressed an election rally a few days ago.

The Sangh Parivar has put all its energy behind the 72-year-old Somanna, who had been an MLA from Govindaraj Nagar in Bengaluru, from where he has been moved out for the first time. According to Somanna, a five-time MLA, he was not willing to contest election this time and wanted to retire but the BJP top leadership asked him to fight from Varuna and Chamarajanagar segments and he could not say no to them.

"What else can I say when the Prime Minister asked me to contest from Varuna? I agreed to it," Somanna said. The 75-year-old Siddaramaiah, an eight-time MLA, is upbeat about his electoral prospects. "As Chief Minister I have given many good programmes. I have done a lot of work here for the people. This is my last election and after this, I am going to retire from active politics," said.

The electioneering in Varuna has become 'star-studded'. Kannada actors Shivaraj Kumar and B R Vijay Kumar, popularly known as Duniya Vijay, campaigned for Somanna, while Sommanna brought in renowned actor Sudeep Sanjeev, fondly called as Kichcha Sudeep, to add star appeal. The electoral fight is so fierce here that many voters say: ''We have not seen a poll battle like this before''.