Karnataka: Karnataka polls: Siddaramaiah is Congress’s ace in the hole against BJP’s popularity | India News

NEW DELHI: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, who has emerged as the Congress’s strongest contender for the top post in the state, will be fighting from his traditional seat — Varuna — in the May 10 assembly polls.

Known to be an alliance weaver, who shares good relations with most of his political opponents, Siddaramaiah was the chairman of the Congress-JD(S) alliance’s coordination committee in 2018. He is also the only Karnataka CM to have served the full five years.
The eight-time MLA belongs to the Kuruba community, which accounts for around 7% of the state’s population, according to unofficial accounts. He also enjoys the support of the Lingayat community, which accounts for around 14% of the voter base.
Siddaramaiah, who goes by only one name, has been a major figure in the state’s political landscape for over four decades.
Born in Mysore in 1948, Siddaramaiah began his political career in the late 1970s as a member of the Janata Party. He was elected to the Karnataka legislative assembly in 1983 and served in various ministerial positions in the state government over the next two decades.

In 2005, he joined the Congress and rose through the ranks and eventually became the chief minister of Karnataka in 2013.
During his tenure as CM, Siddaramaiah implemented several welfare programs aimed at uplifting the marginalised communities in the state. His flagship programme, the ‘Anna Bhagya’ scheme, provided free rice to households below the poverty line. He also introduced the ‘Ksheera Bhagya’ scheme, which provided free milk to school children, and the ‘Namma Canteen’ program, which provided affordable meals to the urban poor.

Siddaramaiah was also a champion of Kannada language and culture. He made it mandatory for all government offices and schools to display signboards in Kannada, and he introduced a controversial proposal to have a separate state flag for Karnataka. He also declared the birth anniversary of 12th-century social reformer Basavanna as a state holiday and established the Basava Study Centre at the University of Mysore to promote the teachings of Basavanna.
In addition to his welfare programs and cultural initiatives, Siddaramaiah was also instrumental in attracting investments to Karnataka. He actively promoted the state as a destination for foreign investors and signed several MoUs with foreign governments and companies to set up industries in the state. Under his leadership, Karnataka emerged as a hub for IT and biotechnology, and Bengaluru became known as India’s Silicon Valley.
Siddaramaiah’s importance to Karnataka politics lies in his ability to connect with the masses and address their concerns.