Congress leader Siddaramaiah has announced that he will not be running for the Badami seat in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, instead choosing to contest from Kolar. Some senior Congressmen have defended the decision, citing the proximity of Kolar to Bengaluru. Siddaramaiah himself has stated that the distance between the state capital and Badami made it difficult for him to take stock of constituents' needs and attend to them. However, sources say that the decision to abandon Badami was largely due to growing discontent within Congress in the district. BB Chimmanakatti, a Kuruba strongman and former Minister who had hoped to contest the election from Badami in 2018, was not chuffed when Siddaramaiah was airdropped into the district. However, the party persuaded Chimmanakatti and his supporters to back Siddaramaiah. Chimmanakatti is now aspiring to run from Badami and has been openly attacking the former CM, asking him to "go back" to his home district. No seat today is a cakewalk for any candidate, and there will be tremendous pressure on Siddaramaiah since he has been rotating seats with such regular frequency in every election. It will be a tough contest.
