After having campaigned extensively for three days earlier, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was back in Davangere again on Sunday, in a bid to reach out to AHINDA voters who seem to be more divided this time on who should be their representative in Davangere South Assembly constituency.
In a constituency where the grand old man of the Congress, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, never lost since it was created after delimitation in 2008, for the first time, minorities have kept the Congress leaders on tenterhooks in the byelection, the polling for which is scheduled on April 9.
The Davangere South constituency which was carved out from the erstwhile Davangere Assembly constituency in 2008, is not geographically compact. Although named as Davangere South as it comprises cluster of villages in the south of Davangere, the constituency has several municipal wards in the north of Davangere predominantly inhabited by Muslims and working class.
Muslims have been demanding representation in the constituency and contesting as Independents since 2008. This time, 13 out of the total 25 candidates in the fray are Muslims.
However, barring the 2013 elections when JD(S) candidate Syed Saifulla Karekatte stood second with over 26,000 votes, none of the Muslim candidates have been able to reach five figures. But the voting patterns indicate that it is the Muslim votes that decide the victory and also the winning margin, as evident in the last four elections.
