"Not interested in national politics, confined to K'taka politics," says Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru:  Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said he was not interested in national politics and is confined to state politics only.

“No, I’m not interested in national politics, I’m confined to Karnataka politics only,” Sidddaramaiah said in response to a question on any attempts by the party leadership to get him to national politics with a larger role, and will he accept it.

The Leader of Opposition in the state assembly was addressing the media on his arrival in New Delhi to meet Congress” acting national President Sonia Gandhi.

Siddaramaiah’s office had said that his travel to the national capital was following a call from the Congress President.

It is no secret that the Congress Legislature Party leader is nursing his ambition to become chief minister for a second term if the party wins the next assembly polls in 2023.

The former CM has already said that he will contest from the Badami assembly segment, which he currently represents.

Ahead of the May 2018 assembly polls, Siddaramaiah had said it would “most likely” be his last election, and earlier, during the 2013 assembly polls too, he had said that it was his last election and went on to become chief minister after the polls.

According to party sources, the meeting with Sonia Gandhi is also likely to finalise the names of office-bearers for the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, which is expected to undergo a big revamp.

However, when asked about it, Siddaramaiah said, “no….we won’t discuss it.”

State Congress president D K Shivakumar was recently in Delhi and had held extensive discussions with the party’s central leadership in this regard.