DAVANGERE: In a surprising development, a member of the Shamanur family has entered the bypoll fray in Davanagere South even before the Congress has officially announced its candidate.
Samarth Shamanur, 27, the grandson of the late Congress veteran Shamanur Shivashankarappa, filed two sets of papers — one as Congress candidate without ‘B’ form and another as an independent — on Friday, to contest the bypolls from Davanagere South Assembly constituency. The seat fell vacant following the demise of Shamanur Shivashankarappa last December. The polling will be held on April 9
Accompanied by his mother, Prabha Mallikarjun, MP from Davanagere, Samarth submitted his papers in two sets to the returning officer of the Davanagere South Assembly constituency and assistant commissioner Santosh. Samarth’s father, SS Mallikarjun, is the Horticulture Minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet and also the Davangere district minister.
This sudden development has put the Congress in a fix as the party is yet to announce its official candidate. According to informed sources, the Congress is expected to finalise its candidate by Sunday, the penultimate day for filing nomination papers.
Uses grandfather’s car
Clad in a traditional dhoti, white shirt and a shawl, Samarth didn’t leave any stone unturned to ignite the memories of his grandfather, Shamanur Shivashankarappa. Samarth travelled in the car used by his grandfather to file his papers. After cleaning his grandfather’s car and performing puja, Samarth went to his grandmother’s house in the same car and sought her blessings. From there, he directly reached the office of the election officer on the premises of the Davanagere City Corporation and submitted his nomination.
‘Appaji built Congress’
After filing his papers, Samarth said that he is confident of getting the ‘B’ form from the Congress. “Shamanur Appaji is the one who built the Congress and worked for its development for decades. Therefore, I am filing papers as the Congress candidate. Today is Ugadi and Ramzan. Therefore, I am filing my papers on this auspicious day,” he said. In the morning, Samarth took the blessings of family deity Kalleshwara and Goddess Durgambika.
Samarth said that he was going to file another set of nomination papers on Monday with the ‘B’ form after receiving everyone’s blessings. “Everyone, including minorities, will be taken into confidence. I will serve the constituency like my grandfather. I will officially file my nomination papers in the presence of state leaders on Monday as soon as I get the B form from the Congress,” Samarth said.
Meanwhile, Samarth’s mother, Prabha Mallikarjun, who represents Davanagere in the Lok Sabha, said that her son filed his papers symbolically on Friday as it was an auspicious day, “Samarth will officially file his papers on Monday along with the party’s ‘B’ form. The
work done by Shamanur will help us win the bypoll. It is time for the youth to enter politics as they have their own perspective,” she said.
Meanwhile, Samarth, continuing his grandfather’s tradition, was accompanied by Kuruba and minority leaders when he filed his papers.
Another Congress leader files papers
Congress’ Sadiq Pahilwan, too, filed nominations without any affidavit with the returning officer as a party candidate. Pahilwan said that he is waiting for the ‘B’ form from the Congress and if he doesn’t get, he will contest as an independent.