BENGALURU: Former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s far-and-few visits to his home district, Mysuru, in the aftermath of his defeat in Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency has turned a cause for concern among Congressmen in the run-up to next year’s Lok Sabha polls. The Kuruba strongman’s die-hard supporters and party workers recall his frequent visits to Mysuru while he reigned as Chief Minister and rue the fact that they lack a charismatic leader as Mr Siddaramaiah spends more time in his new constituency, Badami, post the Assembly polls in May.
His lieutenant and former minister H.C. Mahadevappa too has maintained a distance from party activities after he lost in T Narasipur (reserved) constituency. He was unhappy after his son was denied ticket to contest the Assembly polls. The upshot: the party lacks a strong leader to woo voters in the district. Former city and district Congress president of Mysuru T.S. Ravishankar spoke of the void following Mr Siddaramaiah’s loss in Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency. He rued the fact that Mr Siddaramaiah had become a rare visitor to his home district.
The party was in dire need of a leader like Mr Siddaramaiah who had the capacity to turn the fortunes of the party in Mysuru and neighbouring districts as well. With Lok Sabha polls scheduled to be held in the next couple of months, party workers are keenly looking forward to his return to Mysuru to guide the party to victory. While Mr Siddaramaiah was an unchallegable backward classes leader, Dr Mahadevappa was a noted Dalit leader. These two communities play an important role in parliament polls. To consolidate Vokkaliga voters, water resources minister D K Shivakumar had been making frequent visits which, according to party workers, brought some solace.
Mr Ravishankar said a delegation of district leaders and party workers would meet Mr Siddaramaiah soon to request him to spend more time in Mysuru to boost the morale of grass-roots level workers. For them, Mr Siddaramaiah was a true leader and none could match his charisma. “We are optimistic that our leader will spend more time in Mysuru at least till the next Lok Sabha polls,” he added. Meanwhile, sources close to Mr Siddaramaiah said the leader had a busy schedule as he was saddled with three key posts – CLP leader, CWC member and Coordination Committee Chairman. So, his presence was required more in Bengaluru.
