Protests erupt outside Siddaramaiah's house, supporters demand Kolar seat

In a show of strength, Karnataka leader of opposition and former chief minister Siddaramaiah's supporters held a protest outside his house in Bengaluru demanding that he contest the upcoming elections from the Kolar seat.

As the protest escalated on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah clarified that he did not say he would not contest from Kolar or any other constituency, but has left the decision to the party's high command.

"Where I have said that I will not contest from Kolar or any other constituency. I have left it to the party's high command and whatever they decide, I will abide by it. People are joining our party because BJP will lose and that's why people are coming to our party," Siddaramaiah told reporters.

The protest comes days after Siddaramaih was advised to contest from his Varuna Constituency where he had emerged victorious on a few occasions.

Siddaramaiah had won the Varuna seat in 2008 and 2013. However, he vacated the seat for his son Yathindra in 2018 and he contested from Badami constituency where he managed to win the seat by over 1500 votes against BJP's Sri Ramulu a toughly-contested battle.

He was hoping that Siddaramaiah's work in ensuring water supply for the drought-affected region by initiating Yettinahole Project and filling up tanks with KC Valley and HN Valley projects may garner vote. More importantly, Kolar Assembly segment is dominated by AHINDA, which includes minorities, backward classes and Dalits. As a result, he had considered contesting in Kolar.

However, the BJP and JDS had targeted him from running away from Varuna to Badami and then announcing his wish to contest from Kolar where the BJP is expected to field Varthur Prakash.