Karnataka polls: Congress pits Yasir Khan Pathan against CM Basavaraj Bommai

HAVERI: Congress has changed its party candidate and chose Yasir Khan Pathan, a former zilla panchayat member instead of Yusuf Savanur. Pathan is the only minority candidate in the undivided Dharwad district.
Savanur was a party ticket aspirant from Hubballi Central assembly constituency, but former CM Jagadish Shettar shifted to Congress and he has become a Congress candidate.

Savanur had been selected for Shiggaon-Savanur but within a day, the party withdrew the list and selected Pathan. At the same time, another Congress aspirant Shashidhar Yaligar has joined JD(S) and is contesting.
Former MLA Sayyad Ajjampeer Khadri was a strong aspirant for the Congress ticket from Shiggaon-Savanur but the party did not select him as he had lost four assembly elections, three of them against CM Basavaraj Bommai. Former minister Vinay Kulkarni’s name came up for the Congress ticket, but finally, the party allotted it to a minority community person.
According to sources, Lingayats and Muslims are dominant, with 80,000 voters in the assembly segment, of which 45,000 voters belong to the Panchamasali sect. There are least 50,000 minority voters in the assembly segment.
The caste combination also helped CM Basavaraj Bommai in the previous three elections. This time, Veerashaiva Lingayat Panchamasali voters were disturbed initially as they were fighting for 2A reservation, but the state cabinet led by CM Basavaraj Bommai has decided the reallocate the reservation.
The government has now created a 2D category and has included all sub-sects of Veerashaiva Lingayat communities under the reservation, and the protest was withdrawn.
Yaligar files nomination as JD(S) candidate
Shashidhar Yaligar, who was a strong aspirant for the Congress ticket has joined JD(S) and become a candidate from the constituency. This may affect Congress in the assembly election. Shashidhar belongs to the Verashaiva Lingayat Panchamasali community and extended service to people during Covid-19. Many Muslim community leaders batted for Yaligar and had pressured Congress to give him a party ticket.