Karnataka election results 2019: Ex-CM Siddaramaiah pushed to the wall

Routed by BJP and having delivered the worst performance in its history, Congress and its legislature party leader in Karnataka Siddaramaiah will be staring at serious consequences in the coming months.
Former CM Siddaramaiah was always on the backfoot after the party’s dismal show in the assembly elections in 2018. However, his proximity to AICC president Rahul Gandhi meant the Ahinda (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) leader still had considerable influence over the distribution of tickets to his confidants for the Lok Sabha elections.
But the results on Thursday have pushed Siddaramaiah to the wall. He lost grip over the party with his candidates including C H Vijayshankar in Mysuru losing badly. From Bagalkot and Koppal in north Karnataka, to Mysuru in old Mysuru region, Siddaramaiah’s candidates lost the elections. The other key concern for Siddaramaiah would be his “ineffective” leadership in ensuring coordination between Kurubas and Vokkaligas.
In key constituencies of old Mysuru, Siddaramaiah was unable to bring together Congress and JD(S) leaders for a good show. In Mandya and Bengaluru North, rumblings indicated that Siddaramaiah may have worked against the alliance.
While open rebellion in Mandya by Siddaramaiah’s followers gave independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh a clear shot at victory, the former’s confidants, including S T Somashekar and the Byrathi brothers, were not keen to assist Krishna Byregowda in defeating BJP’s D V Sadananda Gowda in Bengaluru North.
Siddaramaiah may also be held responsible for “defeating” JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda in Tumakuru, and his grandson Nikhil Kumarawamy in Mandya. Other “influential” state leaders like D K Shivakumar and deputy chief minister G Parameshwara may also face flak. Shivakumar’s brother D K Suresh’s victory in his fiefdom of Bengaluru Rural was a forgone conclusion, his task of retaining Ballari and wresting Shivamogga from BJP went awry.
While Ugrappa began to lose from round one and was nowhere close to repeating the by-poll victory, coalition candidate for Shivamogga, Madhu Bangarappa, also faced the same fate.