The ruling Congress is facing the heat of rebellion in Shiggaon assembly constituency, with two of its prominent leaders—former MLA Ajjampeer Khadri (Muslim) and Manjunath Kunnur (Panchamasali Lingayat)—filing their nomination as independents after the party picked Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan as its official candidate.
The Congress, after a series of meetings, had finally chosen Pathan. The constituency previously held by former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has a sizeable population of Panchamasali Lingayat and Muslim voters.
The Congress, which was hoping to defeat the NDA candidate Bharat Bommai, son of former CM and Haveri MP Basavaraj Bommai, in a straight fight, is now worried about a multi-corner fight leading to division of votes that could work to BJP’s advantage.
On Friday, the last date for filing the nomination, Minority Welfare Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan rushed to Khadri’s house in Haveri to pacify him. But Khadri went to file his nomination at the last minute, while his angry supporters damaged the windshield of the minister’s car.
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“Pathan is an outsider as he hails from Hanagal taluk. BJP’s candidate Bharat Bommai is from Hubballi. I am confident that the voters will choose me as I am a local, and drive the others out,” said Khadri, also alleging that Pathan was a ‘rowdysheeter’.
Kunnur, meanwhile, was miffed at his son Raju Kunnur being denied the ticket and he chose to get even by filing his nomination as an independent. Kunnur, a former MP and a close confidante of Bommai, had jumped ship to the Congress in March 2023.
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The Congress has always fielded a Muslim candidate from Shiggaon to counter the BJP which has always favoured a Lingayat. This time too, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was hoping to give the ticket to Khadri to woo the Muslim voters. But KPCC chief D.K. Shivakumar was keen to field a Panchamasali Lingayat to break the BJP votes. However, with the party picking party-hopper C.P. Yogeshwar as its nominee from Channapatna, which also has a significant minority population, the party leaders decided to give the Shiggaon ticket to Pathan, who was defeated by Bommai by 36,000 votes in the May 2023 elections.
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“There is no need for the BJP to celebrate Khadri’s nomination. I am confident that he will withdraw it on Monday. We will win with a margin of 40,000,” said Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan.
PWD minister Satish Jarkiholi said, “This is a Congress versus BJP contest. Khadri’s revolt is not an issue. He is only a person and not a force.”
Meanwhile, BJP took out a massive rally in Haveri ahead of Bharat Bommai filing his nomination. Veteran leader B.S. Yediyurappa, Union Minister Prahlad Joshi, Basavaraj Bommai, Byrati Basavaraju, Govind Karjol and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy accompanied Bharat on the rally.
Pathan was accompanied only by party workers, while filing his nomination though both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had accompanied Yogeshwar, when he filed his nomination from Channapatna.