Karnataka Polls: Video of Siddaramaiah’s ‘divine’ wish to contest from 2 assembly seats goes viral

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Bengaluru,
Jan
13:
Should
Congress
leader
Siddaramaiah
contest
from
two
assembly
segments
in
2023,
like
he
did
in
2018?
Yes,
seems
to
be
the
”divine
wish”,
expressed
by
a
priest,
who
is
said
to
have
been
possessed
by
goddess
of
a
temple,
which
the
former
Chief
Minister’s
MLA
son
Yathindra
visited.

The
incident
allegedly
took
place,
when
Yathindra
visited
goddess
‘Adinadu
Chikkamma
Taayi’ temple
at
Chottnahalli
in
Malavalli
taluk
of
Mandya
district,
last
week,
to
attend
an
event
at
the
shrine.

The
purported
video
of
the
incident
that
has
gone
viral
on
various
social
media
platforms
shows
the
priest
Linganna,
who
is
said
to
have
been
possessed
by
the
goddess,
cryptically
gives
a
message
to
Yathindra,
possibly
suggesting
that
his
father
Siddararamaiah
should
contest
from
two
seats,
instead
of
one.

‘ಸಿದ್ದರಾಮಯ್ಯ
ಎರಡು
ಕಡೆ
ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆ
ಮಾಡಬೇಕು…’

‘ನಿಮಗೆ
ಪ್ರಬಲ
ಶಕ್ತಿಗಳ
ವಿರೋಧ
ಇದೆ,
ಒಂದು
ಕಡೆ
ಬಾಹುಬಲ
ಚಾಚಿದ್ರೆ
ಅಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ,
ಬಾಹುಬಲ
ಎರಡು
ಕಡೆ
ಚಾಚಬೇಕು.
ಒಂದೇ
ಕಡೆ
ಚಾಚಿದ್ರೆ
ತಪ್ಪಾಗುತ್ತದೆ’
ಎಂದು
ಮಳವಳ್ಳಿಯ
ಆದಿನಾಡು
ಚಿಕ್ಕಮ್ಮ
ತಾಯಿ
ಸಿದ್ದರಾಮಯ್ಯ
ಅವರಿಗೆ
ಯತೀಂದ್ರ
ಮೂಲಕ‌
ತಿಳಿಸಿದೆ.

#Siddaramaiah
pic.twitter.com/2JVnkDqu0c

—
Harishankar.R|
ಹರಿಶಂಕರ್
(@harishankarR89)

January
13,
2023

In
the
message
regarding
Yathindra’s
”elder”,
purportedly
referring
to
Siddaramaiah,
the
priest
possessed
by
goddess
says,
”It
is
not
enough
to
stretch
your
arm
strength
towards
one
direction,
you
should
stretch
your
arms
strength
in
two
directions….
If
it
is
on
one
side,
it
will
be
a
blunder.
If
you
stretch
your
arms
on
both
sides,
I
will
ensure
your
victory.”
The
goddess
through
the
priest
is
also
said
to
have
told
Yathindra
about
her
being
his
family
deity,
and
asked
them
to
visit
the
temple,as
reported
by
PTI.

The
priest
Linganna,
speaking
to
press
today
said,
he
is
not
aware
what
he
uttered
when
the
goddess
had
possessed
him,
but
only
learnt
about
the
conversation
through
the
video
clip,
and
confirmed
its
content.
This
development
comes
days
after
Siddaramaiah
announced
his
wish
to
contest
the
assembly
polls
by
May
from
the
Kolar
assembly
segment.

Meanwhile,
indicating
that
options
are
still
open,
Yathindra
speaking
to
reporters
said
that
he
is
not
aware
of
what’s
in
his
father’s
mind,
and
one
should
wait
and
see
what
he
decides.

”If
he
and
party
decides
to
contest
from
two
places,
he
will.
If
the
high
command
decides
that
he
should
contest
from
one
seat,
he
will
contest
from
one,
everything
is
open,
let’s
see
what
he
and
the
party
decides,” he
said,
while
clarifying
that
such
decisions
are
purely
political
in
nature
and
have
nothing
to
do
with
what
happened
at
the
temple.

Confirming
the
happenings
that
day,
Yathindra
said,
during
the
visit
to
the
temple,
the
priest,
who
was
said
to
have
been
possessed
by
the
goddess,
said
spread
arms
on
both
directions
and
good
would
happen.

”I’m
not
much
bothered
about
it
and
have
not
gone
to
interpret
it
as
well.
It
was
said
that
the
priest
was
possessed
by
god,
but
to
what
extent
to
believe
in
such
things,
I
don’t
know,
as
I
have
never
followed
and
seen
such
things,”
he
said,
adding
that
their
family
deity
in
their
native
village
of
Siddaramana
Hundi
is
also
‘Chikkamma
Taayi’.

Responding
to
a
question,
the
Varuna
MLA
said,
not
only
the
priest,
many
people
have
advised
Siddaramaiah
to
contest
from
two
constituencies
including
leaders
and
workers
in
the
party.

Karnataka
Elections
2023:
Siddaramaiah
to
contest
from
Kolar
seat

Reiterating
his
stand
that
he
wanted
Siddaramaiah
to
contest
from
Varuna,
he
said,
but
my
father
has
announced
Kolar
to
be
his
constituency,
subjected
to
high
command’s
decision,
during
his
recent
visit
there.

”So,
I
don’t
know
what
my
father
and
high
command
decides,
there
is
nothing
to
speculate
now
itself,”
he
said,
as
he
maintained
that
his
wish
and
that
of
his
workers
is
that
Siddaramaiah
should
contest
from
Varuna,
as
this
will
be
his
last
election.

Siddaramaiah,
not
wanting
to
contest
from
Badami,
his
current
constituency,
in
Bagalkote
district
of
north
Karnataka
region,
was
looking
for
a
”safe
seat”
and
on
January
9
had
announced
his
willingness
to
contest
from
Kolar,
if
party
permits.

In
the
2018
assembly
polls
he
had
contested
from
two
seats-
Chamundeshwari
and
Badami.

As
the
then
sitting
chief
minister,
he
lost
the
2018
polls
in
Chamundeshwari
to
JD(S)
G
T
Deve
Gowda
by
36,042
votes.
He,
however,
won
Badami,
the
other
constituency
from
where
he
had
contested
and
defeated
B
Sriramulu
(BJP)
by
1,696
votes.

Making
his
debut
in
the
Assembly
in
1983,
Siddaramaiah
had
got
elected
from
Chamundeshwari
on
a
Lok
Dal
Party
ticket.
He
has
won
five
times
from
this
constituency
and
tasted
defeat
thrice.

After
neighbouring
Varuna
became
a
constituency
in
2008
following
delimitation,
Siddaramaiah
represented
it
till
he
vacated
the
seat
for
his
son
Dr
Yatindra
(MLA)
in
the
2018
assembly
polls
and
went
back
to
his
old
constituency
of
Camundeshwari.

It
is
no
secret
that
Siddaramaiah,
who
was
chief
minister
between
2013-2018,
is
nursing
his
ambition
for
a
second
term
in
office,
if
the
party
wins
the
next
assembly
polls.
With
State
Congress
President
D
K
Shivakumar
too
having
similar
aspirations,
it
has
triggered
a
game
of
one-upmanship
between
the
two
leaders.

Story first published: Friday, January 13, 2023, 21:41 [IST]