BENGALURU: The bypolls to Davanagere South and Bagalkot Assembly constituencies is an acid test for the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP as the results are a precursor to the 2028 Assembly polls in Karnataka.
While the Davanagere South seat fell vacant following the death of Congress MLA Shamanuru Shivashankarappa, a Veerashaiva-Lingayat strongman, the bypoll to Bagalkot was necessitated after the death of HY Meti, a Kuruba leader from the Congress.
According to political pundits, the bypolls would put the leadership issue on the back burner as CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar would be forced to display a united front to retain the two seats for the Congress.
Meanwhile, former CM JH Patel’s son and former MLA Mahima J Patel, who is the state JDU chief, is aspiring to contest from Davanagere South, hoping that former PM and JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda will hold deliberations with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and BJP national leaders to field him as the NDA candidate.
With Veerashaiva-Lingayats in considerable numbers in both the constituencies, Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra has to prove his mettle as a strong leader of the community, similar to his father and former CM BS Yediyurappa, who is considered the community’s undisputed leader. The BJP can cash in on the infighting in the Congress for the ticket, especially in Davanagere South.
Shamanunru Shivashankarappa’s son and current Horticulture Minister, SS Mallikarjun, has been fighting tooth and nail to get the ticket for his son Samarth. Sources said that a delegation from Davanagere has already met CM Siddaramaiah in this regard. Mallikarjun’s wife, Dr Prabha Mallikarjun, who is an MP from Davanagere, could wield her influence at the national level.
Housing Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan had recently opined that the ticket be given to a Muslim, and proposed the name of MLC K Abdul Jabbar. According to Zameer, there are over 80,000 voters from the community. Given his proximity to LoP in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, Indian Youth Congress national secretary Syed Khalid Ahmed has also emerged as a strong contender, sources revealed.
Meanwhile, KPCC chief and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar held a meeting with both the factions a couple of days ago to resolve the issue. “We are prepared to face the bypolls. There is no confusion. All the leaders have said that they will accept whatever the party says,” Shivakumar told reporters.
The BJP, in its core committee meeting, discussed the candidates for the bypolls. Union Minister Prahlad Joshi and state BJP chief BY Vijayendra held a meeting with factions led by former minister M P Renukacharya and MLA BP Harish, who were instructed to work for the party candidate.
In Bagalkot, the competition is tough in the Congress for a ticket as Meti’s sons, Mallikarjun and Umesh and daughters-former ZP president Bayakka Meti and Mahadevi Meti, are aspiring for party ticket. Siddaramaiah recently clarified that one of them would be picked.
The BJP is most likely to field Veeranna Charantimath, a Lingayat, who had lost the 2023 Assembly polls to Meti by a narrow margin of 5,878 votes.