DAVANGERE: Predicting the Congress’ victory in the upcoming Davanagere South bypolls, KPCC chief and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday said the developmental works initiated by former minister late Dr Shamanur Shivashankarappa and the welfare programmes of the state government will ensure the triumph of the party’s candidate -- Samarth Shamanur Mallikarjun.
“We have cleared all confusion and everyone is working together. The Congress is taking everyone together. The contributions of Dr Shamanur Shivashankarappa, who was also president of the Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha, is immense and it will come in handy for the victory of our candidate who is the grandson of the former minister. A survey conducted in the constituency shows that 79 per cent of voters favour the Congress candidate,” he told reporters.
Stating that Samarth Shamanur will win by a big margin, Shivakumer noted that people will not forget the leadership of Shivashankarappa during the Covid pandemic and his contributions in the field of education. “It is due to Shivashankarappa that thousands of students come here to get education. The district is famous because of him. And people will support his family now. ,” he said.
“The prices of essential commodities including gas, petrol and diesel are increasing and will continue to do so. The Congress government has implemented guarantee schemes to protect people from such price hikes. The importance of our scheme is now being realised,” he said.
Asked about the party’s campaigning in the two constituencies, he said, “Our CM has already started campaigning in these constituencies. Leaders to whom the party has given the responsibility to campaign in the state and outside are doing their job effectively. I came here after campaigning for two days in Assam. Today I will campaign in Davangere and tomorrow in Bagalkot. Then I will go to Kerala for two days and Assam for a day. I will come back and campaign in these constituencies again.”