Davanagere (Karnataka) : Davanagere South Assembly Constituency is one of the high-voltage segments of the May 10 Karnataka elections. Here there is a direct fight between the State's oldest MLA and senior Congress politician Shamanur Shivashankarappa, 92 years, and BJP's former Davangere mayor B G Ajay Kumar. An influential leader of the Lingayat community, Shamanur is strong but rivals blame him for the lack of development in the segment.
Minority votes in the constituency are decisive here. There are ten Muslim colonies including Azad Nagar, Basha Nagar, Mahbub Nagar, and Mustafa Nagar, where concerns are there over the lack of development. Mahbub Khan, a voter, expressed disappointment that Shamanur Shivashankarappa has won thrice after the division of Davangere South Constituency in 2008 but he could not bring a single college, hospital and proper road here. This time too there is a chance that Shivshankarappa will win here, said Mehboob Khan.
"We guarantee that Shivashankarappa will win this time too. He has developed everything including electricity, and school. But there is no hospital, college and proper road", said Khan. Shivashankarappa was elected three times consecutively in 2008, 2013 and 2018 and now he is contesting again in 2023. BJP youth leader BG Ajay Kumar has entered the fray against Shivashankarappa.