We’ll win Davangere, Bagalkot Assembly seats in bypolls: Siddaramaiah

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday expressed confidence that the Congress will win the byelections to both the Davangere South and Bagalkot Assembly constituencies, which would take place next month.

“The party will retain both the seats. The rebellion against the party’s official candidate in Davangere has been defused, with rebel candidate Sadiq Pahilwan withdrawing from the race,” he told reporters at the Mysuru airport.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said he would campaign for the party candidates in Bagalkot on March 30 and 31, and in Davangere on April 1 and 2.

He will return to Bagalkot on April 3 and 4, before leaving for Kerala on April 5. “On April 6, I will either campaign in Davangere or Bagalkot,” he added.

Responding to a question on whether the byelection results would be seen as a verdict on the Congress government in the State, he said the party would “certainly win the bypoll” and remain victorious in the 2028 Assembly elections as well.

He clarified that the leadership issue and the byelection results were unrelated and should not be linked. The Chief Minister reiterated that he would present the next State Budget if permitted by the party high command.

On the third language policy, Mr. Siddaramaiah said marks for the third language in SSLC had been removed and would no longer be counted in the final result.

“Out of 625 marks, the 100 marks allotted for the third language paper have been excluded. It is no longer mandatory and comes into effect from this year onwards,” he added.

Addressing criticism over the move, he said it was natural to have differing opinions, but the government had already taken a decision. He clarified that the policy was not aimed at opposing Hindi and added that the government was not against learning any language but did not want it to be compulsory. “The third language was not mandatory when I was in school, so I did not study it,” he noted.

On the major drug haul near Hunsur, he said he would speak to the Mysuru district police on the raid and reiterated the government’s commitment to make Karnataka a “drug-free” State. “Those found guilty will be punished, irrespective of their links,” he replied.

Regarding concerns over the “unscientific” installation of traffic signals in Mysuru, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the police had taken the step to streamline traffic and prevent accidents. “If it is causing inconvenience to the public, it will be re-examined,” he added.

On the issue of IPL tickets being given to MLAs, he remarked, “Whoever wants to go can go. Earlier one ticket was given, now two tickets are being provided. If any MLA is not interested to take the tickets, they need not.”

Minister in charge of Mysuru district H.C. Mahadevappa was present.