Public campaigning for bypolls in Bagalkot and Davangere concludes

Public campaigning for the byelections to Bagalkot and Davangere South Assembly constituencies concluded on Tuesday evening, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, and other leaders making last-minute efforts to woo voters.

On the concluding day, Bagalkot saw more action than Davangere, with Mr. Siddaramaiah accompanied by Ministers Shivanand Patil and others campaigning for Congress candidate Umesh Meti by attending a convention of the Panchamasali Lingayat community.

Meanwhile, former Ministers Govind Karjol, B. Sriramulu, and N. Mahesh were seen canvassing for the BJP candidate Viranna Charantimath.

Azaruddin campaigns

In Davangere South, it was Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar who led the Congress campaign through a roadshow and he was accompanied by Minister M.C. Sudhakar.

The Congress had roped in former Indian cricket captain and Telangana Minister Mohammad Azharuddin to campaign for party candidate Samarth Mallikarjun.

In stark contrast to Bagalkot, no prominent leaders of the BJP were seen campaigning on the last day in Davangere.

BJP candidate Srinivas T. Dasakariyappa along with some local leaders was seen canvassing on the last day as the party leaders had left Davangere on Monday night itself.

Resurfaces

The remarks of Ministers G. Parameshwara and B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan on Mr. Siddaramaiah’s tenure as Chief Minister on the penultimate day again brought to the fore the tussle for power between the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister which was buried for some time.

Meanwhile speaking to presspersons in Bengaluru, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly R. Ashok has claimed that the bypoll would expose the “real face of the Congress”, which he said, was trying to turn minorities into a vote bank.

As per the Model Code of Conduct, political leaders, party workers, or campaigners who are not voters of a particular constituency and have been brought in from outside for the campaign must leave the area once public campaign ends, and accordingly leaders from outside the constituency left both Bagalkot and Davangere immediately after the deadline ended.

While the public campaign ended at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, door-to-door campaign is allowed to be continued on Wednesday.

The bypoll has been necessitated by the demise of former Ministers H.Y. Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa. Polling will be held on April 9 and votes will be counted on May 4.