Siddaramaiah
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has decided to contest from two seats in the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka, Badami and Chamundeshwari.
Siddaramaiah, who had filed nomination for Chamundeshwari yesterday, would be filing papers for the Badami seat on April 23.
Earlier, Siddaramaiah had said that he would soon take a final call for the Badami seat after consulting Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
Siddaramaiah, who has been fielded from Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru, had said he was under pressure from Congress leaders from Bagalkote and Bijapur districts to contest from Badami.
Karnataka will go to polls on May 12. The counting of votes will take place on May 15. The term of the current 224-member legislative Assembly ends on May 28.
The Assembly election is Karnataka is being seen as a battle of prestige between the Congress and the BJP as it is the only major state where the Congress is in power at present.
While the Congress would want to retaining it, a win for the BJP will provide a great boost to its campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
The BJP is making a concerted bid to unseat the Congress in Karnataka where the issue of granting "religious minority" status to the dominant Lingayats and Veerashaiva Lingayats has become a major issue.
