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The bye-election race in the Davanagere South Assembly constituency is getting increasingly intense. The passing of India’s oldest MLA, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, in December 2025, has sparked a political stir in Davanagere South, a constituency he represented for nearly twenty years. Even within what should have been a house in mourning, factional disputes have risen. Muslims, who hold a numerical edge in the constituency, have become indispensable yet tricky for the Congress party this time. The growing demand within the Congress camp itself to put an end to dynastic politics stems from one root cause: the entrenched feudal style of politics that defines the region.
Following the 2008 delimitation, voters in Davanagere South elected Shamanur Shivashankarappa to the Assembly four consecutive times. Like the two earlier elections, the Congress secured more than 50% of the vote in 2023 too. At the heart of this sweeping mandate was the unity of Muslim voters. The Shamanur family have, therefore, maintained cordial ties with the Muslim community. Yet the question now being asked is, why are Muslims demanding the Congress ticket for themselves this time? The answers are twofold. First, the injustice meted out to Muslims of Davanagere City during the 2008 delimitation process. Second, the political fiefdom maintained by the Shamanur family.
A historical injustice
Delineating political boundaries should ideally strike a balance between equal voting rights and the safeguarding of minority groups. However, in reality, mobilising religious and caste identities to produce desired political outcomes by manipulating boundaries is mastered by the political leaders. Similarly, while the voters of Davanagere were unaware of what was happening in the political landscape during the 2008 delimitation, a cunning strategy was being implemented.
Legal scholar Suvrajyoti Gupta points to certain guiding principles recognised as being implicit in the guidelines framed by the Delimitation Commission for the demarcation of electoral boundaries. Among them is the requirement of geographical coherence when drawing political boundaries. In simple terms, this principle rests on two rules: contiguity and compactness.
According to these two rules, the boundaries of one constituency should adjoin those of another without leaving gaps in between, and a constituency should not consist of fragmented, disconnected parts but should form a unified whole. While most Assembly constituencies in Karnataka were carved out in accordance with these principles, Davanagere South appears to be a glaring exception.
The constituency was formed by combining several municipal wards in the northern part of Davanagere city with a cluster of villages in the south (Figure 1). The northern municipal wards alone account for more than 60,000 Muslim voters. In electoral strategy, concentrating a single community into one constituency is known as “packing.”
In effect, Muslim voters were packed into Davanagere South (Figure 2). This serves as the best example of how, in the process of delineating electoral boundaries, geographical techniques are selectively applied to engineer certain political outcomes. The architect and chief beneficiary of this strategy, critics argue, was Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
Feudal politics
The wounds of history do not heal easily. During the 2008 elections, the Congress party’s “B-form” issued to Syed Saifullah for the Davanagere North constituency was reportedly rejected due to the intervention of Shivashankarappa’s son SS Mallikarjun. The Shamanur family then had to work overtime to bring an aggrieved Muslim community back into its fold. Positions such as mayor of the municipal corporation and chairman of the urban development authority were offered to placate community leaders.
Yet, despite these gestures, political proprietorship remained firmly in the hands of the Shamanur family. The 2024 Lok Sabha victory of Prabha Mallikarjun, wife of SS Mallikarjun, signalled her entry into mainstream politics and strengthened the family’s long-standing dominance in district politics. Having long played secondary roles, sections of the Muslim community are now eyeing the top post as the political moment appears ripe.
In a constituency where AHINDA votes—Muslims, Kurubas, Marathas, and other backward communities—constitute over 60%, the question – why the Lingayat community must receive the Congress ticket every single time – has gained urgency. Citing their numerical strength, Muslims are now united in asserting that they deserve the party ticket. After the father, son, and daughter-in-law, they ask, must the grandson too inherit the mantle?
The challenges ahead
Whether the ticket tussle proves a blessing or a curse for the Congress party remains to be seen. Granting the ticket to a Muslim candidate would mean confronting the formidable Shamanur family, with its financial muscle and political clout. Yet doing so could also be seen as correcting a historical wrong and restoring meaningful political representation. Even if the Muslim candidate gets the B-form, the burden of leading the campaign would fall on S.S. Mallikarjun. There are fears within the Muslim community that personal loyalties and attachments could undermine what they see as a moment of reckoning.
Amid this turbulence, two key challenges stand before the Muslim community. First, to remain vigilant during the next delimitation exercise, ensuring that constituency boundaries are not once again drawn to their disadvantage. Second, to seize the opportunity—if it comes—with unity and secure genuine political representation. Davanagere South should serve as a warning bell for all minorities in India to be cautious about the delimitation exercise, which is due in the next couple of years.
For decades, the Shamanur family has held Davanagere in a tight grip. This bye-election, therefore, is not merely about choosing a legislator. It may well determine whether an old centre of political power is rejuvenated—or whether a new one is born.
Srinidhi HV is a geographer and doctoral researcher at IIT Bombay, working on the spatial aspects of electoral boundaries in India. Views expressed here are the author’s own.