Be safe than sorry is the mantra for many netas in Karnataka

In the current election season in Karnataka, the mantra is to play safe.

All top leaders like Siddaramaiah, D K Shivakumar or B Sriramulu have decided to stick to their safe seats. The elections are so tight this time, that taking chances is not an option for any of these leaders.

On Saturday, the Congress released its first list of candidates for the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023. When it was announced that Siddaramaiah would contest Varuna, the message was clear that he was not ready to take any chances. The constituency which he has represented several times in the past has been a safe bet for him. However in 2018 in a bid to placate his son Yatindra, he had vacated that seat and contested from Chamundeshwari, which he eventually lost.

In the run up to the elections, there was speculation rife that Siddaramaiah may contest from two seats and one of them would be Kolar. However on the advice of the top leadership, he gave up that idea.

Siddaramaiah had spoken about his wish to contest from Kolar as the constituency has 45,000 Muslims and 20,000 Kurubas who are from his community. While this electorate was expected to vote en-masse for him, doubts were cast on whether the 40,000 Vokkaligas and 35,000 SCs would share the same sentiment. The Vokkaligas and SCs would have preferred the JD(S) and this made Siddaramaiah change his mind.

The case of Sriramulu of the BJP who is also the transport minister of the state is similar. He has decided to return to the Ballari Rural constituency, which has always been his bastion. There has been speculation rife that he has been considering to contest from the Sandur seat. While the scales are titled in his favour in both the seats, the minister however believed that Sandur is a risk.

While the combinations in Ballari Rural is tricky, Sriramulu sounds confident. There are 40,000 Muslims and 20,000 Kuruba voters. Sriramulu would however bank on the 45,000-strong ST voters and 15,000 Lingayats. As per an internal survey, Sriramulu is also likely to get the backing of nearly 30 per cent Muslim votes, thus making it a safe seat for him.

Another candidate who everyone is keeping a close watch on is Vijayendra, the son of the BJP stalwart, B S Yediyurappa. When his father said that he would not contest the elections this year, it became clear that he had vacated his Shikaripur seat for is son. There was talk initially that Vijayendra would be given a more challenging seat to contest. Vijayendra is just making his foray into main stream politics by contesting an election. A lot depends on his individual performance and hence sticking to his father's seat in Shikaripur made more sense for him.

The only one taking a risk or one may say calculated risk is JD(S) chief and former chief minister, H D Kumaraswamy. He will be contesting the Channapatna seat which has an overwhelming number of Vokkaligas and 45,000 Muslims. Channapatna is next door to his earlier constituency of Ramanagara and there is speculation that he may field either his wife, Anita or son Nikhil from there.