DAVANGERE: The Davanagere South Assembly constituency is going to witness a high-profile contest between Congress and BJP again this time. The senior-most politician in the state, Dr Shamanur Shivashankarappa -- who is 92 years old, has been representing this constituency successively over the last six elections.
BJP that had consistently been fielding Yeshwanthrao Jadav against Shivashankarappa has changed its candidate this time and given the ticket to former mayor BJ Ajaykumar to put up a tough fight against Congress. Though Ajaykumar had demanded the Davanagere North seat, he was made to contest against the veteran from the South constituency. As a mayor, he has worked closely with people and has got a large amount of funds allotted to the city for development works.
But Shivashankarappa’s name and the welfare programmes initiated through his family trust, Bapuji group of institutions, have remained etched in people’s minds. Being an easily approachable person is a big positive in favour of Shivashankarappa. He won the last election by a margin of 15,884 votes, but the reluctance of the minority community, which has a sizable number of votes, may make it tough for him this time.
The constituency, which has 2,04,442 votes, has been the traditional bastion of Congress since 1994. Along with the minorities, Lingayat, Maratha, Banjara, Adi Karnataka and Kuruba communities too have a good presence in the constituency. The caste chemistry, like in most other constituencies across the state, will decide the winner here.
Though the minorities had demanded the Congress ticket for their community, Shivashankarappa used his proximity to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and his stronghold over the district Congress to get the ticket again. The community’s disappointment may lead to some of their votes getting scattered. The presence of the minority-focused Social Democratic Party of India is also a factor and the party will directly eat into the Congress vote base.
Ajaykumar, though represents the saffron party, is not a hardcore Hindutva ideologist and has a good rapport with the minority community too which could help him in the polls. Ever since his name was finalised, he has been going around the constituency extensively. Despite all the effort, Shivashankarappa, who too has toured the entire constituency, could still have an upperhand.