• Siddharamaiah likely to ditch Badami and contest from Chamarajpet
• Zameer Ahmed to give up Chamarajpet and contest from Shivajinagar 
• Rizwan to give up Shivajinagar and contest from NR in Mysuru
• Will the Congress dump 5-time NR MLA Tanveer Sait then?

Bengaluru: With the Assembly polls still nearly two years away, political activities within the opposition Congress has stirred up with a few leaders of the party, especially those belonging to Opposition Leader Siddharamaiah’s camp, thinking of changing their Assembly constituencies in the 2023 elections.

Prominent among them is former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, who has taken the lead in this regard by planning to jump ship from Badami in Bagalkot district to Chamarajpet in Bengaluru city.

Similarly, sitting Congress MLA from Chamarajpet Zameer Ahmed Khan, a confidante of Siddharamaiah, is likely to move to Shivajinagar, a Muslim dominated Assembly segment in Bengaluru, which is currently represented by Rizwan Arshad, who got elected in a by-poll              held in 2019. 

Siddharamaiah, who lost from Chamundeshwari Assembly Constituency in the 2018 polls, was successful in winning Badami seat with a thin margin.

Rizwan Arshad, a native of Mysuru and now settled in Bengaluru, is likely to contest from NR Assembly segment in Mysuru city by dislodging Tanveer Sait, the sitting Congress MLA. 

Rizwan Arshad too is said to be close to Siddharamaiah and may seriously consider contesting from NR segment by replacing Tanveer Sait, who is said not to be in good terms with Siddharamaiah of late.

By shifting Constituencies and contesting from what are said to be safe seats for the Congress, Siddharamaiah aims to further  consolidate his position in the Congress and become the Chief Minister again in 2023, if the party wins the polls.