If the 2013 Assembly win for the Congress in Karnataka was about the triumph of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, it also had the tragic subtext of Karnataka Congress chief G. Parameshwara’s loss. A loss which, some said, precluded him from the race to be Chief Minister. This time round, Mr. Parameshwara and his voters in Koratagere are taking no chances.
At a pit stop in his constituency, Rafiq Ahmad openly states that Mr. Parameshwara’s loss was due to factionalism in the party. “I can’t reveal names, but leaders of the Congress sat here and campaigned against him. He was too busy travelling and neglected the constituency. This time around, we find he is camped here and that’s good,” he said.
When The Hindu caught up with Mr. Parameshwara, he denied that his own party sabotaged his chances the last time around but added that the advise on spending time in his constituency to campaign was well taken.
“I analysed my constituency after the results. It was supposed to be a triangular contest that didn’t happen. The BJP took only 3500 votes. All the other BJP votes transferred to the Janata Dal (S) instead of coming to me. I took 10,000 more than the 2008 polls. Still I lost because the BJP polled poorly. If the BJP had taken 25,000 votes then I would have easily made it. Now I’m placed better, whether the contest is triangular or straight, because I’m prepared for this same philosophy this time too, just in case there is an understanding between the BJP and the JD(S),” he said.
When questioned about the desertion of the Kuruba votes in 2013, votes that should have gone to the Congress, considering Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is a Kuruba, Mr. Parameshwara had a philosophical answer. “Well, anybody can understand that there are two candidates, possibly for chief ministership and one community may support his/her leader automatically. It wouldn’t have mattered if I was just an MLA who could be made Minister, but in my case, because I was a CM competent candidate, KPCC president, it may have happened,” he said. He also expressed confidence that the Kuruba community was solidly behind him this time, and a more united front has been presented. “Chief minister Siddaramaiah came to my constituency, and asked for votes for me, he said, voting for Parameshwara is the same as voting for me. Well, we are together, no doubt,” he said.
