A day after he apparently linked his continuation as Chief Minister to the Congress party’s performance in Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituency in the coming elections, Mr. Siddaramaiah sought to clear the speculations over a leadership change by claiming that he meant to state that his presence at the helm was necessary to continue the guarantee programmes.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Tuesday, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he made the statement to caution the people that BJP will discontinue the programmes if it comes power.
As the voters of Varuna Assembly constituency, which is also part of Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituency, had given him a lead of about 48,000 votes over V. Somanna of the BJP in the last Assembly elections, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he had sought a lead of 60,000 votes from the constituency to the Congress candidate Sunil Bose.
