D K Shivakumar accepts Jabbar’s resignation, dissolves Congress minority cell

KPCC president D K Shivakumar on Sunday accepted the resignation of MLC Abdul K Jabbar as chairman of the state Congress minority cell.

In a press release, Shivakumar - also the deputy chief minister - said the minority cell committee had been dissolved with immediate effect.

The decision comes in the backdrop of reports that there were attempts by Jabbar and others to “sabotage” the prospects of Congress candidate Samarth Mallikarjun in the just-concluded byelection to the Davangere South constituency. The bypoll was necessitated due to the demise of Congress veteran and eminent Lingayat leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa - Samarth’s grandfather. 

During ticket distribution, there was widespread discontent within the Muslim community over being denied the ticket in a constituency where the community is said to have around 75,000-80,000 votes. Jabbar was considered to be one of the probable candidates.

A senior Congress leader told DH that Shivakumar would seek a report from the Davangere unit of the party on Jabbar’s role in the byelection.

“There was a report that Congressmen themselves tried to sabotage the party’s chances in the byelection and defeat our candidate. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is aware of all these things. Abhishek Dutt, AICC secretary in charge of the elections, was in the constituency for 20 days and submitted a report on some people trying to defeat Congress candidate Samarth. The developments related to Jabbar come against this backdrop,” the person added.

However, the leader exuded confidence that the Congress would win the Davangere South constituency, despite the alleged attempts at sabotage.