Congress leaders from Karnataka have urged party president Rahul Gandhi to follow in the footsteps of his mother and grandmother by contesting from the state in the Lok Sabha polls.

The chairperson of the Congress-JDS coalition coordination committee, P.C. Siddaramaiah, was the first to tweet his request to Rahul.

“Karnataka has always supported & encouraged @INCIndia leaders. It has been proved in case of Smt Indira ji & Smt Sonia ji,” the former chief minister tweeted.

Indira Gandhi had made her post-Emergency comeback from Chikmagalur and Bellary had sent Sonia Gandhi to the Lok Sabha.

“We also want our next Prime Minister of India Shri @RahulGandhi to contest from Karnataka & herald a new development paradigm,” tweeted Siddaramaiah.

State Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao had posted a similar tweet a little earlier.

“On behalf of @INCKarnataka I urge @RahulGandhi to consider contesting from Karnataka for the forthcoming #LokSabhaElections2019. He should also be our representative from South India & for that he should choose my state,” Rao tweeted.

Deputy chief minister G. Parameshwara also took to Twitter to express his support to the idea.

Almost everyone in the Karnataka Congress was thrilled at such a prospect. “He could contest in another safe seat besides Amethi (in Uttar Pradesh). We are ready to provide him a safe seat. Now it’s up to him to decide,” said a leader who didn’t wish to be named.

Karnataka Congress vice-president K.E. Radhakrishna said it would be a “great honour” to have Rahul contest from the state. “Rahul Gandhi has evolved into a top national leader. It is natural for our party in every state to offer him a seat. We will be happy and proud to give him a seat and ensure he wins with a huge margin,” he said.

“Karnataka elected Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. It would be a great honour to have our president as well,” Radhakrishna added.

After the post-Emergency rout, Indira had made her comeback from Chikmagalur in 1978 by defeating Veerendra Patil of the Janata Party in a Lok Sabha by-election.

In a “swadeshi” versus “videshi” battle of epic proportions, Sonia defeated Sushma Swaraj of the BJP from Bellary in 1999. Later Sonia gave up Bellary and retained Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.

Both the quaint little estate town of Chikmagalur and the barren and dusty Bellary had been under continuous media attention during the two elections.