Bengaluru, April 21: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will contest also from Badami assembly constituency in the state's Vijayapura district in addition to Chamudeshwari in Mysuru, a Congres official said on Saturday.
"Siddaramaiah will contest from two assembly segments -- Chamundeshwari and Badami, where he will file nomination on Monday," party's state unit spokesman Ravi Gowda told here.
Elections to the 225-member state assembly, including one nominated will be held in a single phase on May 12 and votes will be counted on May 15.
Though the Congress high command is yet to release names of candidates for the five remaining seats after the first list of 218 names on April 15, Siddaramaiah's nomination from Badami makes him the only leader in the ruling party to contest from two seats in the state.
"This is the first time Siddaramaiah is contesting from two seats in response to demand from the party's cadres and his supporters from the Kurba community he belongs to," said Gowda.
Siddaramaiah, 69, filed nomination on Friday at Chamundeshwari from where he contested seven times and won five times since 1983.
Though he had won from Varuna in Mysuru district twice since 2008 assembly elections, he shifted to Chamundeshwari, paving way for his son Yatindra to contest from his home constituency.
Yatindra too filed nomination from Varuna on Friday.
BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa's second son B.Y. Vijayandra is also contesting from Varuna though they hail from Shivamogga district.
In his affidavit, Siddaramaiah declared total assets valued at Rs 20.3 crore, including that of his wife, Parvathi, and those inherited from his Hindu Undivided Family.
Siddaramaiah is also the party's second chief minister to have completed a 5-year tenure 40 years after D. Devaraj Urs (1972-78).
The veteran state leader joined the Congress from the Janata Dal-Secular in August 2006.
"The party will announce names for the remaining four seats - Shantinagar in Bengaluru central, Kittur, Nagthan, Sindgi and Raichur in the state's northwest region.
The party has decided to support Swaraj India candidate Darshan Puttannaiah, son of the state'ss farmer leader, the late K.S. Puttanaiah, who was a legislator from Melukote in Mandya district.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Delhi LG 'praises' CM Atishi, calls her 'thousand times better than her predecessor' Kejriwal
New Delhi, Nov 22: In a left-handed compliment to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Friday said she is "a thousand times better" than her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal.
At the seventh convocation ceremony of the Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women here, Saxena said, "I am happy today that Delhi's CM is a woman, and I can confidently say that she is a thousand times better than her predecessor."
While making the comment, he took a glance at Atishi who also addressed the students.
The AAP and BJP have been at loggerheads over a range of issues, including governance and control of bureaucracy. Kejriwal tendered his resignation in September and said he would seek a "certificate of honesty" from the public in light of the corruption charges he faced. Atishi succeeded him as the chief minister.
Last year, Saxena ignored the AAP government's request to allow Atishi, who was then the education minister to hoist the national flag at the state-level Independence Day event.
A row brewed over the issue with the Aam Aadmi Party lashing out at Saxena after the General Administration Department refused to implement Minister Gopal Rai's direction to let Atishi hoist the tricolour in place of former then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who was in the jail in the excise policy scam.
In his speech, Saxena told the students, "As you move ahead, you have four guiding stars. First is your responsibility towards yourself, the second is your responsibility towards your parents and family while the third responsibility is towards the society and nation-building."
"The fourth responsibility is to prove yourself as women who have broken the glass ceiling of gender and stand on par with others in all fields," he said.
Kejriwal had proposed Atishi's name as the chief minister at a meeting of the legislature party and it was unanimously accepted.
When she took charge of the office, Atishi kept an empty chair besides hers for Kejriwal.
Addressing at the event, Atishi reflected on the progress made in the education sector under the AAP government.
"Education is the key to development. Take the example of the US, Canada, or the UK. They provided free education and schooling, and that is why they are developed countries today."
"Ten years ago, when we formed the government here, we saw the same dream. Since then, we have been spending 25 percent of our education budget on improving the sector," she said.
