Davangere South: Congress has task cut out to secure Muslim votes

Reports of maulvis in exhorting Muslim voters in the Davanagere South Assembly constituency to back the Muslim candidate in the upcoming byelection has further fuelled anxiety among local Congress leaders, particularly the party’s candidate Samarth Mallikarjun, and his father S S Mallikarjun, who is also the Davanagere district in-charge minister.

The grandson of Congress veteran Shamanur Shivashankarappa, whose death necessitated the byelection, Samarth is keen on securing the support of the Muslims, who account for 80,000 of the 2.32 lakh voters in the constituency.

Queried about the maulvis’ diktats to the Muslim community, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee’s (KPCC) legal cell organising secretary Anis Pasha conceded that they could have discussed the issue informally. “But we have a strategy to codavangereunter it,” Pasha told DH.

14 Muslims in fray

The field for the Davanagere South byelection is densely packed with 25 candidates in the fray, of whom 14, including Congress rebel Sadiq Pailwan, hail from the Muslim community. Interestingly enough, former Union Minister C M Ibrahim recently campaigned for Khadar Adil Basha, who is contesting the bypoll as an Independent.

KPCC working president Saleem Ahmed acknowledged that division in Muslim votes would invariably benefit the BJP. “We are meeting Muslim candidates and requesting them to back the Congress. We are convincing them that had Shamanur been alive, he would have completed the reminder of his term. That is why the party decided to give the ticket to a member of his family,” Ahmed told DH.

 Meanwhile, the ongoing feud between Mallikarjun and Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan has cast a shadow on the Congress’s campaign in the constituency. Mallikarjun’s observation that the party would have been better served had Khan not campaigned in the segment has added to the tension within the party. Incensed by Mallikarjun’s remarks, Khan’s supporters took to social media to vent their ire.

Online commentators too have opined that Mallikarjun appears to be setting himself against one community, with many wondering if he was serious about ensuring a victorious start to his son’s political journey. Sources in the Congress party said that Mallikarjun was banking more on AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala to win over the Muslim voters.