‘We Built This Party, But Got A Knife In The Back On Eid’: Furious Muslim Congress Workers Protest In Davanagere

Hundreds of angry minority Congress workers and leaders staged a fiery street protest here on Saturday, openly accusing the party high command of betraying the Muslim community by denying it a ticket in the high-stakes Davanagere South Assembly bypoll and handing it instead to Samarth Shamanur Mallikarjun, son of Mines & Geology Minister S.S. Mallikarjun and grandson of the late Congress patriarch Shamanur Shivashankarappa.

Carrying placards and raising slogans of “ಧಿಕಾರ! ಧಿಕಾರ!” (Down with dictatorship!) and “ಹೈ ಹೈ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್!” (Shame on Congress!), the protesters gathered near the Congress office and warned that the community would now teach the party a “fitting lesson” by ensuring its defeat by at least 50,000 votes on April 9.

“We Gave 95–100% Votes, Got Zero Respect.”

Speaker after speaker recalled how Muslims in Davanagere South have stood rock-solid with Congress since 1947.

“From 2023 Assembly elections to 2024 Lok Sabha polls, we gave 95 to 100 per cent votes to Congress,” one leader thundered.

“We built this party booth by booth, took lathi charges, sacrificed everything, and today they treat us like step-children.”

They alleged that during a special meeting convened by Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and AICC in-charge Randeep Surjewala in the holy month of Ramzan, the leadership had given a firm assurance:

“We will do justice to minorities.”

However, the ticket was announced on the day of Eid itself, an act the protesters described as “a dagger in the back” and “the height of betrayal.”

“No More ₹500 Sale”, Open Revolt

The crowd repeatedly named senior minority leaders who had lobbied hard for the ticket, Housing Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan, Tanveer Sait, Harish, Rizwan Arshad, Abdul Jabbar and others, and condemned the “blackmail tactics” allegedly used against local Maulvis.

“If you continue this step-motherly treatment, we will give you a reply you will never forget,” one protester warned.

“We are not for sale at ₹500. This time, we will not just resign en masse; we will boycott Congress completely. We will field or support independent candidates, even vote for BJP, AIMIM or SDPI, anything to defeat Congress.”

They invoked Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution and declared:

“The king is no longer born in palaces. He was born through votes. We will show who the real king is on polling day.”

Congress In Damage Control Mode

The bypoll was necessitated by the death of veteran leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa.

The Shamanur family has treated Davanagere South as its fiefdom for decades.

Samarth Shamanur filed his nomination papers even before the official announcement, first as an “independent” and later with Congress’s support, triggering the current crisis.

Senior Congress leaders, including Zameer Ahmed Khan, had publicly demanded a Muslim candidate, citing the community’s nearly 30 per cent (around 60,000) share in the electorate.

The high command’s decision to back the young Shamanur scion has now pushed the party’s traditional minority vote bank to the brink of open rebellion.

With nominations closing on March 23 and polling just 18 days away, Congress faces its biggest internal crisis in Karnataka since coming to power.

Whether last-minute assurances or a change in candidate can calm the storm remains to be seen.

However, one message from the streets of Davanagere was crystal clear:

“We gave you power with our votes. Now watch how we take it away.”

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