The counting of votes for the Karnataka Assembly elections 2018 on Tuesday will decide the fate of Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Siddaramaiah. During the fierce campaign by all stakeholders in the run-up to the elections, Siddaramaiah took all the attacks directed at his government head-on. The results of all the 222 seats are expected to be declared by the afternoon of May 15 and any party or alliance securing 112 will be able to form the government in the state.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa questioned the working of his government, he hit back with a list of comparative data parameters ranging from job creation to budget outlay to infant mortality and loans given to farmers.
When some exit polls predicted a victory for the BJP, he took to Twitter to term them as “entertainment”, asserting that the Congress party would retain power in Karnataka. He also said that on the basis of the work done by his government in the past 5 years, he felt “deep sense of fulfillment”, adding that he has a list of things that could be done better.
He debuted as an MLA in Karnataka in 1983 when he won the Assembly elections on a Bharatiya Lok Dal ticket from Chamundeshwari constituency. Since then, Siddaramaiah had a decent rise in Karnataka politics as a member of the Janata Dal. Following the split of the party, he joined Janata Dal Secular, which is currently spearheaded by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.
But the relationship with the JDS did not remain for long as he reportedly developed differences with Deve Gowda. In 2005, he was expelled from the JDS, and then he went on to join the Congress party at a massive public gathering in Bengaluru in the presence of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
During his political journey in the state, Siddaramaiah has served twice as deputy chief minister, minister of finance, minister of animal husbandry and veterinary services, minister of transport and minister of higher education.
Though Siddaramaiah has been named by Congress president Rahul Gandhi as party’s chief ministerial candidate, he triggered fresh speculations on Sunday by saying that he was willing to give up a post for a Dalit CM in the state.
