Congress And Bjp All Set For Another Direct Clash In Davangere South By-Poll
In the ensuing by-poll, Congress party fielded Samarth Mallikarjun son of Minister of Mines and Geology S.S. Mallikarjun. From the Bharatiya Janata Party Srinivas Dasakariyappa is in the fray trying his luck in the stronghold of the Congress party.
BENGALURU: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in search of a win in Davangere South Assembly seat in the ensuing by-poll which has turned out to be a bastion of the Congress party since 2008. In the last four elections, Congress and BJP nominees have had direct contests in 3 elections while one contest was a straight fight between Congress nominee and Janata Dal Secular (JDS). The seat was successively represented by Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa who passed away at the age of 95 on December 14, 2025.
In the ensuing by-poll, Congress party fielded Samarth Mallikarjun son of Minister of Mines and Geology S.S. Mallikarjun. From the Bharatiya Janata Party Srinivas Dasakariyappa is in the fray trying his luck in the stronghold of the Congress party.
The seat saw a close fight between Congress nominee Shamanur Shivashankarappa and BJP’s Yashavantha Rao Jadhav in 2008 and then Congress nominee Shivashankarappa won the seat by a slender margin of 6, 358 votes. Congress nominee polled 41, 675 votes while BJP candidate secured 35, 317 votes out of registered 1, 61, 435 votes.
Shivashankarappa, a Congress nominee, retained the seat in the 2013 election defeating his nearest rival Karekatte Syed Saifulla of Janata Dal Secular (JDS) by a margin of 40, 158 votes. Shivashankarappa polled 66, 320 votes and the JDS nominee got 26, 162 votes. BJP then finished third in the fray.
In the 2018 election, Shivashankarappa of Congress party was successful in retaining the seat he presented in 2008 and 2013. Though BJP’s Yashavantha Rao Jadhav was defeated, he was successful in bringing down the victory margin of Shivashankarappa. Shivashankarappa secured 71, 369 votes and BJP’s Yashavantha Rao Jadhav got 55, 485 votes.
BJP fielded Ajay Kumar B.G. against Congress nominee Shivashankarappa in 2023 and again Shivashankarappa won it. Congress nominee got 84, 298 votes while BJP nominee secured 56, 410 votes and the margin of victory was 27, 888 votes.
While Congress party exuded confidence of retaining the seat through Samarath, former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa stated people of the State are fed-up with the performance of Congress party government in the State and voters in Davangere South Assembly seat would teach a lesson to the ruling party by electing BJP nominee this time.
