Karnataka bypolls: Congress rebel candidate retires from contest in Davangere South

Congress rebel candidate Sadiq Pahilwan on Friday retired from the electoral contest in the by-election 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 Salim 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 by-election.

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 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.