Former Karnataka chief minister and veteran Congress leader Siddaramaiah announced on Sunday that he will not contest any elections in future, including the 2028 state assembly polls, citing advancing age, declining health and politics becoming “corrupted”.
The 79-year-old Congress Working Committee (CWC) member, however, asserted he will remain active in politics and continue speaking on issues affecting the public.
“Since the political field has become corrupted today, I will not contest in the 2028 assembly elections. However, remaining active in politics, I will continue to stand as a voice for the people’s hardships and joys,” Siddaramaiah said in a post in Kannada on X, detailing what he had said at a private event in Mandya district the previous day.
Stressing that the people of the Varuna constituency in Mysuru are urging him to contest the elections once again, he said: “I have decided that I should not contest in any elections henceforth. In the past, when I contested elections, it was the people of the constituency who supported us financially and ensured our victory. But today, such a situation no longer exists.”
He added: “I am now 79 years old. Our (Congress) government’s term has another year and a half remaining. By then, I will be 81-82 years old. My health is not as robust as it used to be. It is no longer possible to work with the same enthusiasm as before.”
Siddaramaiah, the longest-serving Karnataka chief minister resigned on May 28, following instructions from the Congress high command, paving the way for DK Shivakumar to take over as CM.
The Congress veteran said he will have completed 50 years in public life by the 2028 assembly polls.
“I began my political career in 1978 as a Taluk Board member. I have seen both victory and defeat, but I have the satisfaction of never acting against the principles I believed in or betraying my conscience,” he said.
Siddaramaiah said money had become central to contesting elections, leaving little space for “honest” politics. “The time has come where, if we contest elections, we would have to give money to the people. Politics today is thoroughly corrupted. Honest politics seems to have no leg to stand on. In this backdrop, I have arrived at the decision not to contest in future elections,” he said.
He added that his withdrawal from electoral politics would not mark the end of his public life. “For five decades, the people of the state have seen me as one among them and affectionately guided me. This debt weighs on me. Therefore, my future life too will be dedicated to public service,” he said.
Before the 2023 assembly polls, Siddaramaiah had announced it to be his last election, but added he would continue to remain in politics thereafter.
