BENGALURU: In a relief to the Congress ahead of the November 13 bypolls to three Assembly constituencies, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who is also KPCC president, managed to quell the rebellion in Shiggaon by convincing former MLA Syed Azeempeer Khadri to withdraw his nomination papers by promising him a post suitable to his position in the party.
But on Sunday, Housing Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan is likely to ferry Khadri’s supporters in 20 buses to meet the CM and DyCM to convince them.
Khadri was the front-runner to get the Congress ticket for Shiggaon, but the party high command chose Yasir Ahmad Khan Pathan, who had lost to BJP’s Basavaraj Bommai in the 2023 Assembly elections.
The BJP has fielded Bharat Bommai, son of Haveri MP and former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, for the November 13 bypolls.
A miffed Khadri had filed his nomination papers on Friday to contest as an independent. Zameer, who had tried to convince Khadri by visiting Shiggaon, failed and even the latter’s supporters damaged his car. Zameer, however, arranged for Khadri’s meeting with the CM and the DyCM.
Addressing a joint press conference, Shivakumar said that Khadri will withdraw his nomination on October 30. “The Congress will reward Khadri after the polls... we cannot make it public now because of the Model Code of Conduct. Khadri should have been given a ticket in the last elections... but Yasir Pathan was fielded. The party will not forget Khadri’s sacrifice,” the DyCM added.
Shivakumar informed that MLC Nazir Ahmed, BDA chairman NA Haris, and Congress leader Ismail Tamatgar have all persuaded Khadri to quit the bypoll race.
Khadri breaks down
Speaking to the media, Khadri broke down after not being fielded by the Congress from Shiggaon. “I appealed to the CM and the DyCM to give me the ticket. But they said the decision was made by the party high command. I will take the party’s decision to my supporters. I will discuss it with them. We will meet the CM and DyCM on Sunday...,” he said, adding that he is a disciplined soldier of the Congress.
“I have so far contested five elections... four times on a Congress ticket. I lost by a very narrow margin against Basavaraj Bommai in three elections. I lost one election by 787 votes,” he said. “In my first electoral battle in 1999, CM Siddaramaiah played a role in getting me the Janata Dal ticket, and I won it. Now, the Congress is more important to me than any individual,” Khadri further said.