Congress And Bjp All Set For Another Direct Clash In Davangere South By-Poll

BENGALUR: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking victory in the Davangere South Assembly seat in the bypoll, which has emerged as a stronghold of the Congress party since 2008. In the last four elections, Congress and BJP candidates contested directly in 3 elections, while one contest was a direct fight between the Congress candidate and the Janata Dal Secular (JDS). The seat was represented consecutively by Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa, who passed away on December 14, 2025, at the age of 95.

In the subsequent by-poll, the Congress party nominated Samarth Mallikarjun, son of Mines and Geology Minister SS Mallikarjun. Srinivas Dasakariyappa of the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying his luck in the Congress party stronghold.

The seat witnessed a close contest between Congress candidate Shamanur Shivashankarappa and BJP’s Yashavantha Rao Jadhav in 2008, after which Congress candidate Shivashankarappa won the seat by a narrow margin of 6,358 votes. While the Congress candidate got 41,675 votes, the BJP candidate got 35,317 votes out of 1,61,435 registered votes.

Congress candidate Shivashankarappa retained his seat in the 2013 elections by defeating his nearest rival Karekatte Syed Saifulla of Janata Dal Secular (JDS) by 40,158 votes. While Shivashankarappa got 66,320 votes, the JDS candidate got 26,162 votes. The BJP then finished third in the contest.

In the 2018 elections, Shivashankarappa of the Congress Party managed to retain the seat he had offered in 2008 and 2013. Despite being defeated, Yashavantha Rao Jadhav of the BJP managed to reduce Shivashankarappa’s margin of victory. While Shivashankarappa got 71,369 votes, BJP’s Yashavantha Rao Jadhav got 55,485 votes.

In 2023, BJP fielded Ajay Kumar BG against Congress candidate Shivashankarappa and Shivashankarappa won again. While the Congress candidate got 84,298 votes, the BJP candidate got 56,410 votes and the margin of victory was 27,888 votes.

While the Congress party exuded confidence of retaining the seat through Samarath, former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa stated that the people of the State are fed up with the performance of the Congress party government in the state and the voters in Davangere South Assembly seat will teach a lesson to the ruling party by choosing the BJP candidate this time.