Bangalore: Making no bones about his ambition, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah on Wednesday declared himself as a "strong contender" for the chief minister's post, as his party dethroned the BJP in the Karnataka Assembly Elections and was set to form the government.
"I am one of the strong contenders," Siddaramaiah, who is facing a challenge from other chief ministerial aspirants KPCC chief G Parameshwara and Union Minister Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters.
Siddaramaiah, a backward class leader, said the decision on chief ministership was, however, left to the Congress high command and the legislature party. On the electoral outcome, he said the people had given the mandate to the Congress as they wanted a "stable and clean" government and were not in favour of a coalition. Siddaramaiah said the defeat was a "big lesson" to the BJP which was allegedly involved in "corruption, misgovernance and non-performance."
To questions, he said the Rahul factor had also played a role in the Congress' victory and there was "no Modi magic". He also credited the victory to the "good governance" provided by the UPA led by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
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