Siddaramaiah credits KC Venugopal for 2nd term as CM

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Siddaramaiah hails ‘visionary leadership’ of KC Venugopal

By Raisina Correspondent

Bengaluru, September 25: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has credited his second term to the Congress general secretary KC Venugopal. The chief minister hailed the “visionary leadership” of Venugopal.

Siddaramaiah was speaking today at Malappuram in Kerala. He paid tributes to the memory of late Congress leader Aryadan Mohammad on his death anniversary.

Siddaramaiah recalled an incident from 2018 when Venugopal was the Congress general secretary in-charge of Karnataka. “During the screening committee meeting for finalizing the tickets, I had informed the AICC leadership of my interest to fight from Chamundeshwary Assembly seat,” said Siddaramaiah.

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The chief minister stated that “it was pointed out to me by Venugopal that I will lose if I contest from the Chamundeshwari seat and that I should reconsider my decision”. “But I didn’t agree, and I took a strong stand that if at all I’m contesting, it will be from Chamundeshwari seat, and Venugopal didn’t agree,” recalled the chief minister.

He further recalled that Venugopal met him personally afterwards. “He told me that my decision to contest from the Chamundeshwari seat will not be fruitful for my political career,” added the chief minister.

Siddaramaiah also stated that Venugopal candidly told him that “if you lose then it will be a big setback as well, and hence asked me to change the decision”. “And I was not ready to move from the Chamundeshwari seat. But because of Venugopal’s pressure, I started considering a second option,” added Siddaramaiah.

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He stated that he looked at the option to contest from the Badami Assembly seat other than Chamundeshwari constituency. “And when the results came, I won at Badami and lost from Chamundeshwari. And it was because of my win in Badami, I could continue in politics without a gap,” added Siddaramaiah.

The chief minister also stated that if he had lost the Assembly election, he would have had to step aside. “If that was the case, I don’t think I would have become the Chief Minister again,” added Siddaramaiah.

He stated that his victory from the Badami seat in 2018 was crucial for him to become the chief minister for a second time. “I admire Venugopal’s long vision and political sharpness. And clear example for both his long vision and political sharpness is my second term as the Chief Minister of Karnataka,” added Siddaramaiah.

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