The Congress has already announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest from Amethi this time.
Congress leader Siddaramaiah today asked party president Rahul Gandhi to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Karnataka, maintaining that such a move would befit somebody who's poised to become "the next Prime Minister of India".
"Karnataka has always supported & encouraged @INCIndia leaders. This has been proved in the case of Smt Indiraji & Smt Soniaji. We also want our next Prime Minister of India Shri Rahul Gandhi to contest from Karnataka & herald a new developmental paradigm," the Congress Legislature Party leader tweeted with the hashtag #RaGaFromKarnataka.
Fellow leader Dinesh Gundu Rao followed up with a similar plea soon after. "On behalf of @INCKarnataka, I urge Rahul Gandhi to consider contesting from Karnataka for the forthcoming Lok Sabha Elections. He should also be our representative from South India & for that he should choose my state," he tweeted.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi had emerged victorious against the BJP's Sushma Swaraj from Karnataka's Bellary in 1999. Indira Gandhi, her mother-in-law and former Prime Minister, had also scored a win against Janata Party candidate Veerendra Patil by 70,000 votes at Chikmagalur in 1978. This time, the Congress has held on to Bellary while letting its alliance partner - the Janata Dal (Secular) - have Chikmagalur.
The Congress has already announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest from Amethi and Sonia Gandhi from Rae Barelli, the party's traditional strongholds in Uttar Pradesh.
The state Congress and Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular) have decided on a 20-8 seat-sharing agreement to thwart the opposition BJP, with the Congress getting the larger share of the pie.
(With inputs from PTI)