INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Siddaramaiah has said that he was under pressure from Congress leaders to contest from Badami
for his Hindi tweet about his plans to contest the May 12 assembly polls from two constituencies, by asking him to tweet in Kannada or
English.Mr Rao, who is in-charge of Karnataka, asked whether Mr Siddaramaiah was scared he wouldn't win the Chamundeshwari seat in
Mysuru."@Siddaramaiah ji are you scared After much effort you chose Chamundeshwari seat, now after seeing that you will be defeated there
you are searching for a second place.""To end your doubt let me clarify that not only your two seats, but entire Karnataka will be Congress
Mukt (Congress free)," he said in a tweet in Hindi.Replying to Mr Rao in Kannada, Mr Siddaramaiah tweeted, "Sir, tweet in Kannada or English
Don't understand Hindi."Speculations are rife that Mr Siddaramaiah, who has been fielded from Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru, will be
opting Badami in Bagalkote district of north Karnataka as his second seat.Mr Siddaramaiah has said that he was under pressure from Congress
leaders from Bagalkote and Bijapur districts to contest from Badami, but maintained that he would abide by the high command's decision.The
Congress, in its list of candidates for 218 seats announced on April 15, had named Dr Devraj Patil as its nominee from Badami.But issuing of
B-form (required to be filed by a political party mentioning name of its approved candidate) to Mr Patil has been put on hold.Badami with a
strong presence of Karubas,the community to which Mr Siddaramaiah belongs, was seen as the second safe option for the Chief Minister as
reports have suggested that the battle in Chamundeshwari will not be an easy one for him.Mr Siddaramaiah has won five times and has been
defeat twice at Chamundeshwari, from where he has been announced as the candidate.He has been representing Varuna constituency in Mysuru
since 2008, which has now been allotted to his son Yatindra.Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Mr Siddaramaiah said he had conveyed to the
high command, his desire to contest only from Chamundeshwari constituency."I have told the high command that I will contest from
Chamundeshwari and not from two constituencies
However, the people of north Karnataka are pressurising the high command that I should contest from north Karnataka too," he said.The Chief
Minister said he has not taken any decision so far and he would go by the decision of the high command.
