MYSURU: Even as the Varuna constituency in Mysuru district, from where opposition leader Siddaramaiah is contesting, has hogged the limelight given the high-stakes battle, neighbouring Chamundeshwari constituency has garnered interest because of his gameplan to wrest the segment from JD(S).
Chamundeshwari was the talk of the town during the 2018 assembly elections as the then chief minister Siddaramaiah contested from the segment. After he lost with a huge margin of 36,042 votes to JD(S) candidate GT Devegowda, who polled a whopping 1,21,325 votes, the Congress leader had expressed disappointment over his loss many times.
It was Chamundeshwari constituency that had given Siddharamaiah a political rebirth during the 2006 by-election when he won by a margin of just 257 votes against JD(S) and BJP combine after he was expelled from JD(S).
Chamundeshwari segment has 72,000 Vokkaliga votersA predominantly Vokkaliga pocket, the segment has 72,000 voters from the community. There are about 35,000 Scheduled Caste voters followed by ST (30,000), Kurubas (35,000), Lingayats (25,000), Brahmins (10,000) and Vishwakarma (10,000).
Some 70,000 voters in the segment are based in urban areas as Mysuru city boundaries have expanded. Areas such as Ramakrishna Nagar, Datagalli, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Niveditha Nagar, Kanakadasa Nagar, Bogadi 2nd stage, Vijayanagar 3rd and 4th stages, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Nagar, Police Layout, Netaji Nagar, Mansi Nagar which are located in Mysuru city fall under the Chamundeshwari constituency.
Siddaramaiah has got the Congress ticket for Mavinahalli Siddegowda, who previously had worked with Devegowda and played a key role to defeat Siddaramaiah. While he has locked horns with Devegowda, politically it is the fight between Siddaramaiah and JD(S) as the former CM is keen to avenge his defeat.
Devegowda, who is looking for a hat-trick, said he is confident of achieving it. "I have started the campaign and is confident that I will win," he said.
Siddegowda was an associate of Siddaramaiah when he was in JD(S). However, after Siddaramaiah crossed over to the Congress, he remained in JD(S). He served as former chief of Mysuru Milk Union and Mysuru APMC.
After Devegowda distanced himself from JD(S) activities since 2019 over differences with former CM HD Kumaraswamy, Siddegowda started nursing the ambition to contest on JD(S) ticket as Devegowda had indicated that he could quit the party. However, when Devegowda took a political U-turn and decided to continue his association with JD(S) after the visit of JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda to his house, Siddegowda and others opposed it. He crossed over to the Congress, which fielded him even though he had not applied for the ticket.
"The Congress has received tremendous support from the people this time. There is also a Congress wave in the state, which will help me emerge victorious," Siddegowda said. "JD(S) cannot form government on its own which has led people to look at the Congress," he argued.
BJP has opted to field a fresh face, Kavish Gowda, who had joined the party recently, in the segment. Kavish is son of senior Congressman and former MLA Vasu, and has political experience as he associated with his father's campaigns. BJP is hoping to improve its vote share as it had polled 5.33% during the 2018 polls.
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