Bengaluru, 27 Mar

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday rejected any disgruntlement within the State Congress over the selection of a candidate for the Davanagere South bypolls, and assured that everyone would abide by the party's decision.

Shivakumar, who is also the State Congress President, claimed that there would not be any division in the minority community or other community votes for any reason, as people across sections favour Congress.

Davanagere South, along with Bagalkot Assembly constituencies, will go for bypolls on 9 April.

The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and HY Meti, respectively.

Congress has fielded Samarth Mallikarjun, the grandson of Shamanur Shivashankarappa from Davanagere South. His father, SS Mallikarjun, is a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet and is in charge of Davanagere district, while his mother, Prabha Mallikarjun, is a Member of Parliament from that region.

Congress ticket aspirant Sadiq Pailwan has filed his nomination and is in the fray as the "rebel candidate" for Congress.

There was a strong demand from Muslims for the Davanagere South Congress ticket, as the community has a significant presence in the segment. Some factions within Congress had opposed giving the ticket to the Shamanur family.

"Who told you, all are our people... The chief minister and I held discussions yesterday, but I cannot disclose them (details). All leaders, including Zameer Ahmed Khan (Minister), Naseer Ahmed and Abdul Jabbar (both MLCs), will abide by what the party says; there is no doubt in that," Shivakumar said in response to a question about disgruntlement within.

"Also, Sadiq Pailwan and others who sought party tickets are all our people. There will naturally be some differences during elections, but we will set things right. There will be no division of the minority community or other community votes for any reason," he said.

Asserting that Samarth will win by an even bigger margin than the late Shivashankarappa, Shivakumar said, "I'm confident about it. He (Samarth) is a good youngster who was nurtured by Shivashankarappa. That family has contributed immensely to the development of Davanagere, and the people remember it."

According to Congress sources, there is some worry, with Sadiq Pailwan in the fray and displeasure within the minority community over not giving them the ticket, and hence efforts are on by leaders to convince everyone and ensure the victory of the party candidate.

The BJP has fielded Srinivas T Dasakariyappa from Davanagere South.