This is the second coup by the Congress in a space of 24 hours after persuading the socialist democratic party of India (SDPI) in the neighbouring Kerala to withdraw its candidate in Manjeshwar to help the UDF fight the BJP.
Kerala will face assembly polls and Davanagere South will have a bypoll on April 9. Thursday (March 26) was the last date for withdrawal of nominations.
Congress legislators Rizwan Arshad and Saleem Ahmed negotiated with Pailwan and persuaded him to withdraw from the fray to prevent a split of Congress votes in Davanagere South. He returned to the Congress.
Muslims were firm on Davanagere South, reminding Congress leaders a word of assurance from the late Shamnur Shivashankarappa that the seat would go to a minority leader after his time. Muslims, with an estimated 30% of the local population, form the majority in Davanagere South, and the Congress was worried about the BJP stoking trouble.
In Manjeshwar, where the SDPI was unrelenting to give up, it finally withdrew from the fray after it came under intense pressure from local Muslim community leaders and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is the largest constituent of UDF.
The UDF was worried that SDPI’s presence would split minority votes and help BJP candidate K Surendran, who lost on earlier occasions with a thin margin.
Unlike Pailwan in Davanagere, SDPI nominee KM Ashraf quit his party after he was forced to back off from the contest.
