Chief Minister Siddaramaiah along with Sadiq Pahilwan and Rizwan Arshad, Shivajinagar MLA at a press conference at the KPCC office in Bengaluru on March 27.
| Photo Credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J.
Congress rebel candidate Sadiq Pahilwan on Friday retired from the electoral contest in the byelection to the Davangere South Assembly constituency, scheduled to be held on April 9.
The decision came following intervention by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar. Congress legislators Rizwan Arshad and Saleem Ahmed had held talks with Mr. Pahilwan and succeeded in persuading him to step aside, said Mr. Shivakumar.
No formal withdrawal
Mr. Pahilwan was unable to formally withdraw his nomination on March 26, the last date for withdrawal, due to delays in reaching him for discussions.
He announced that he would extend full support to Congress candidate Samarth Mallikarjun, son of Minister S.S. Mallikarjun, in the byelection.
The bypoll was necessitated following the death of Shamanur Shivashankarappa, sitting MLA.
Meeting with CM
Earlier in the day, Mr. Pahilwan met the Chief Minister and expressed his intention to continue in the Congress.
Speaking at a joint press conference attended by Mr. Siddaramaiah, Mr. Shivakumar, and AICC general secretary and State in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mr. Pahilwan confirmed that he was stepping down in favour of Mr. Samarth.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said that while Mr. Pahilwan had been an aspirant for the ticket, the party followed its tradition of nominating a family member of the deceased leader. He cited a similar instance in Bagalkot, where Umesh Meti, son of the late H. Y. Meti, was fielded.
Mr. Surjewala acknowledged that there had been some differences over ticket allocation, but said the issue had now been resolved with Mr. Pahilwan rejoining the party fold. Mr. Shivakumar insisted that Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan was not sulking on the issue of a Muslim not being given a ticket and was busy with Kerala elections.
Subhan in fray
Although Mr. Pahilwan has returned to the Congress fold, another Congress rebel, Subhan Sab, is still in the fray. The Congress has expelled him from the party for six years.
Published – March 27, 2026 08:17 pm IST
