Literally at Karnataka’s heart, Davangere has been a lucky venue for rallies

Davangere, literally at the heart of the state, has been a happy political hunting ground for parties of all hues.

Being almost equidistant from different corners of the state, it is an easy commute for party workers to reach here. This makes it a favourite venue for rallies.

Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah’s birthday bash on Wednesday is no different.

Siddaramaiah himself had organised a convention of Kurubas, the community to which he belongs, here in 2012.

The very next year, in 2013, he assumed office as the chief minister. One has to wait and see if Siddaramaiah can repeat history next year.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi had kicked off her party’s campaign for the Assembly elections in Karnataka, by addressing a mammoth public rally in Davangere on February 5, 1999. The Congress had won the elections and S M Krishna became chief minister.

The Janata Dal had organised a convention here in 1994. The party went on to win the Assembly elections that year, catapulting H D Deve Gowda, the then president of the state unit of Janata Dal, to the post of chief minister.

Former chief minister, the late S Bangarappa, had floated the Karnataka Congress Paksha (KCP) in Davangere in 1994, after quitting the Congress party. The KCP won 10 seats in the Assembly elections that year, considerably harming the Congress party’s poll prospects.

The then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had addressed a BJP rally in Davangere in February 2014. Modi went on to take oath as prime minister in May that year.

He had inaugurated the Ujjwala scheme of the union government in 2016 here. The PM also addressed a farmers’ rally in Davangere in 2018.