Siddaramaiah talks about his relationship with Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar.
Bengaluru, Karnataka:
Karnataka’s Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Friday said that his relations with Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar are cordial and there are no differences between him and DK Shivakumar.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “My relations with DK Shivakumar are cordial. There are no differences between us. Of course, differences exist in a democracy, but it is not detrimental to the interests of the party.”
He also said that the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections would be his last electoral battle and he would retire from politics.
Siddaramaiah said, “I am contesting from Varuna assembly constituency as my native village comes under this constituency. This will be my last election. I will retire from electoral politics.”
Mr. Siddaramaiah further said that he will still be in active politics but after this election, he will not accept any post in Delhi.
“I am contesting from Varuna (assembly constituency) as it has been approved by the party high command. It is not that I am interested in contesting, but the people of Kolar want me to contest from there,” he said. “
Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the Congress is expecting more than 130 seats this time.
“We are expecting more than 130 seats this time and the Congress party will come to power on its own with a sufficient majority. People have decided to change the government,” he said.
Hitting out at the state government’s decision to ban reservation for Muslims in the state, Siddaramaiah said, “The recategorisation (of reservation) is not fair, not constitutional. It is not valid… We need Vokkaligas and reservation on increasing No objection.” Lingayats but why did you end reservation for Muslims… This clearly shows vendetta politics, hate politics.
The Congress on Thursday announced its second list of 42 candidates for the Karnataka Assembly elections, but no decision has yet been taken on who will contest from Kolar, while Siddaramaiah has expressed his desire to contest from the constituency. .
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)