Decoding to-be Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
Perched on his father’s shoulders, the little child watched in awe the splendour and grandeur associated with the royal family of Mysuru during famous Dasara celebrations.
“Look there, the Maharaja is going to come, he is a powerful and respected person,” the father said.
Well, the little boy, who got exposed to the trappings of power for the first time on the sidelines of the Dasara procession, is now all set to take oath as the chief minister of Karnataka for the second time.
Seventy-five-year-old Siddaramaiah — who is fondly referred to as ‘Siddu’, `Tagaru’ and ‘Huliya’ – will be 24th CM of Karnataka.
“I never dreamt of becoming the head of the state during my formative years,” said Siddaramaiah, while admitting that he was mesmerised by the exuberant vibes of royal celebrations while watching it along with his father.
Here are some interesting vignettes from Siddaramaiah’s life based on his past interactions with TOI and other media outlets:
He didn’t join school, went to learn folk dance.
Born and brought up Siddaramanahundi (a nondescript village near Mysuru), Siddaramaiah’s footwork was quite good and he joined Veera Makkala Kunitha, a folk dance form, in the village under the tutelage of Nanjegowda. While learning dance, he also learnt to read and write Kannada from the same teacher. Impressed by his dance, the then Suttur Mutt pontiff gave him Rs 5 as a token of appreciation. Another police constable who was visiting the village also awarded him Rs 5 for his dance. Siddaramaiah used the money to buy a lamb! After Nanjegowda moved out following differences with village elders, Siddaramaiah’s dance classes ended, and his father put him back to rearing buffaloes. But he was on the academic track when the village school’s new headmaster Rajappa persuaded Siddaramaiah’s father to enrol him in the school. Since Siddaramaiah had already learnt basics in Kannada, he was directly allowed to join fifth standard. “I always came first in the class till tenth standard,” Siddaramaiah had stated.
Give share of property or give permission to study law!
After failing to secure a medical seat and a post-graduation seat in botany, Siddaramaiah wanted to pursue law. “But my father Siddaramegowda did not want me to become a lawyer as the village shanbog had told him that Kurubas (sheep-rearing community) cannot become lawyers. My father rejected the idea and wanted me to join work or take up agriculture.” But Siddaramaiah was adamant. He convened a meeting of the village elders and told his father to either allow him to join the law college or give him his share of property. His father gave in. It was in college that Siddaramaiah started getting political exposure by interacting with farmer’s leader Prof Nanjundaswamy. Later, he enrolled for the first batch of LLM in Mysuru University, but failed and discontinued. He joined as a junior to advocate Chikkaboraiah in Mysuru.
When he shooed away a soothsayer…
Whenever his grandmother Mallamma recounted her dream of Siddaramaiah sitting on ‘upparige’ (on the top) and muttered that he would become a great man in the state, he was too young to understand it. Even when he showed interest in contesting in taluk board polls, his father disapproved of it stating that people would cheat and defeat him. “But after becoming the taluk board member, I was sitting in front of a shop in 1979 when a fortune-teller from nearby Soliga Colony appeared and said I would go to become a great person in politics. I literally chased him away for trying to take me for a ride. But when I became an MLA in 1983 and went to the Soliga Colony, the same soothsayer appeared and reminded me that he predicted it. I felt a bit embarrassed, I gave him 25 paise,” Siddaramaiah had told the media.
Counting sheep and understanding finance..
After holding various portfolios in the Ramakrishna Hegde government, Siddaramaiah got the finance portfolio in the Janata Dal government headed by H D Deve Gowda in 1994. “But a Kannada tabloid carried a terse piece questioning my abilities. How can a man who cannot count 100 sheep handle the state’s finances, the article stated. I did not get disturbed by it, I took it as a challenge. I started discussing with a few economists and prepared for over 20 days for my first budget. When I presented it the English dailies praised the budget and that increased my confidence.” Siddaramaiah went to present 13 budgets, the highest for any politician in the state.
Joining Congress…
After being expelled by Deve Gowda, Siddaramaiah floated the All India Progressive Janata Dal (AIPJD). “We even put up candidates for the next taluk and zilla panchayat elections. But when the candidates came back seeking money to fight polls, I realised it was difficult to run a party without money and nobody was ready to give money for a new party,” Siddaramaiah said. It was around that time when a politically influential Bengalurean named Peeran introduced Siddaramaiah to Congress strategist Ahmed Patel. In 2006, he joined Congress. In 2013, he went on to become the chief minister after getting absolute majority and completed the full term.
When panche (dhoti) got normalised…
Always seen wearing a panche (dhoti) over long shorts, Siddaramaiah’s attire came under spotlight when his recent video of his village dance went viral. However, Siddaramaiah’s explanation for his panche was: “I had developed skin allergy (dry skin), itching used to intensify in winter. One of the doctors suggested that I wear a panche or a pure cotton pant, so I switched over to it. I do shopping at the Khadi store on Avenue Road in Bengaluru and end up buying over 50 panches and 40 shirts at one go.”
