Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah won from the Varuna constituency in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election by a margin of 46,163 votes.
He defeated opponent and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister V Somanna.
A massive turnout of 84.74 percent was recorded in the high-profile Varuna constituency, with 1,98,740 people casting their ballots out of the total voter population of 2,34,533. The voter turnout was 24,000 more than the 2018 polls, thus making the seat a keenly-watched contest.
The Congress had earlier claimed that Siddaramaiah would win by a margin of 25,000 votes, despite the BJP fielding a Lingayat heavyweight in the seat.