Wrinkle for Congress as rebel stays put in Davanagere South bypoll fray

Davanagere: What appeared a straightforward fight in the Davanagere South bypoll has turned into a potential three-cornered contest for governing Congress after rebel Sadiq Pailwan refused to withdraw his nomination. At the end of the day Thursday, the last day to withdraw, 25 candidates remained, including 14 from the Muslim community. Besides Pailwan, SDPI nominee Afsar Kudlipet is also in the fray, raising concerns over a split in Congress's traditional minority vote base. "Chief minister Siddaramaiah and some ministers tried to persuade me to withdraw, but I will remain in the election fray. If I lose, it will be as if an Ahinda leader has lost," said Pailwan. Congress has fielded Samarth, grandson of the late Shamanur Shivashankarappa whose death necessitated the election, but a section of Muslims was miffed. Muslims account for nearly 40% of the constituency's 2.3 lakh electorate, and they expected a candidate from the minority community. Congress' position appeared strong after BJP nominated Srinivas T Dasakariyappa, an ST candidate, a move seen as avoiding direct confrontation with the family of Shamanur, who are Lingayats. A Congress delegation led by housing minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, KPCC president Saleem Ahmed and MLA Rizwan Arshad held a closed-door meeting with Pailwan at his residence but failed to secure a breakthrough. Instead, Pailwan's supporters raised "go back" slogans. "Pailwan is a loyal member of the Congress family, and he is naturally hurt since he was aspiring for the ticket," said Khan. "The opportunity to withdraw was missed due to paucity of time. Still, we will pacify him and his supporters." Meanwhile, Congress expelled H Suban Sab from the party for six years after he too refused to withdraw his nomination as an independent candidate. Sab served as president of Congress' labour wing in the Davanagere district unit. For the Bagalkot bypoll, nine candidates remained in the fray after five, including Govindraj Ballary, withdrew their nomination. A release from the office of the chief electoral officer also said raids in Bagalkot and Davanagere led to the seizure of Rs 66.3 lakh in cash, 232 litres of alcohol valued at Rs 10 lakh, and other valuables.