He expresses wish to be at helm for one more term

Taking political circles by surprise, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah — who had earlier said he would not contest another election — has expressed his wish to become Chief Minister of the State for one more term.

He was speaking at Hadya in Holenarasipur taluk on Friday. “I wish to become CM again. I am confident that people will bless me,” he said.

He said he had been hoping to occupy the Chief Minister’s post after the recent Assembly elections. “But, all opponents joined hands only to stop me from becoming CM for a second consecutive term,” he said, in a loaded statement. He added that politics is “not stagnant, but flowing water”.

The Congress leader said he had worked for the welfare of all sections of people during his tenure. “But people did not support me in the elections. These days, politics is driven by money power and caste. This is dangerous for democracy,” he said.

Interestingly, Mr. Siddaramaiah had said that the 2018 Assembly elections would be his last. Just ahead of the elections, he had said in an interview with The Hindu, “I am contesting this time because having been Chief Minister for five years, I did not want to run away from the fight. But this will be my last.” Though he had made a similar statement in 2013, he had changed his mind in 2018.

More recently, there have been rumours of the possibility of him contesting the coming Lok Sabha elections, but Mr. Siddaramaiah has categorically denied that he would do so.

After Mr. Siddaramaiah’s induction into the Congress Working Committee, speculation was rife that he may be considering contesting the Lok Sabha elections.

At the event in Hassan, referring to the floods in Kodagu, Mr. Siddaramaiah criticised the Centre for not announcing relief to the State. The Prime Minister should have visited the place and announced relief package, he said.