Bengaluru, 23 Mar

The BJP and Congress candidates filed their nominations on Monday, the last day to do so, for the bypolls to two Assembly constituencies in Karnataka.

While the Opposition BJP seemed united in facing these polls, the ruling Congress faces rebel trouble.

Bypolls for the Bagalkot and Davanagere South Assembly constituencies will be held on 9 April.

The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs HY Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa, respectively.

The BJP has fielded former MLA and 2023 defeated candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath as its candidate from Bagalkot.

It has fielded a fresh face, Srinivas T Dasakariyappa from Davangere South.

State BJP chief BY Vijayendra, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, MP and former CM Jagadish Shettar among others accompanied Charantimath as he filed his nominations in Bagalkot.

In Davangere South, Dasakariyappa was accompanied by veteran BJP leader and former CM BS Yediyurappa, former Union Minister GM Siddeshwara among others.

The Congress gave tickets to family members of the latelegislators in both constituencies. Umesh Meti is the son of HY Meti, and Samarth Mallikarjun is the grandson of Shamanur Shivashankarappa.

Samarth's father, SS Mallikarjun, is a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet and is in charge of Davangere district, while his mother, Prabha Mallikarjun, is a Member of Parliament from that region.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, who is also the State Congress President, accompanied Umesh Meti and Samarth Mallikarjun as they filed nominations for the Bagalkot and Davangere South seats, respectively.

Rebel trouble seems to be becoming a major concern for the Congress, with ticket aspirant Sadiq Pailwan filing his nomination from Davangere South.

There was a strong demand from Muslims for the Davangere South Congress ticket, as the community has a significant presence in the constitutency. Some factions within Congress had opposed giving the ticket to the Shamanur family.

In Bagalkot too Congress is facing some rebel trouble, as ticket aspirant Govindaraj T Ballari filed his nomination, even before the party officially announced its candidate.

However, speaking to reporters in Davangere, Siddaramaiah downplayed the disgruntlement among aspirants following the announcement of candidates, saying that everyone will be convinced and brought together to ensure the party's victory.

Regarding Pailwan contesting as a rebel in Davangere South, he said, "We will try and convince him."

Meanwhile, Yediyurappa took a dig at the ruling Congress, accusing it of betraying Muslims after initially assuring the community the Davangere South ticket.

"This will help in BJP's win. I request the Muslim community to cooperate understanding how Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking everyone in the country together," he said.

In the 2023 Assembly polls, HY Meti defeated BJP's Charantimath by a margin of 5,878 votes in Bagalkot, and Shivashankarappa defeated BJP's B G Ajay Kumar by a margin of 27,888 votes in Davangere South.