- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
At 91, retirement is nowhere in the radar of Shamanur Shivashankarappa as he prepares for the May 10 assembly elections in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, even mocking himself as a “galloping horse” in the electoral arena.
Indian National Congress’s Shivashankarappa, the state’s oldest member of the legislative assembly who has represented Davangere South constituency of the state five times and was also elected to the Lok Sabha or Lower House of the Indian parliament from Davangere once (1998-99), has been re-nominated by his party from his assembly seat this year as well.
“I have people’s support and God’s blessings. What else is required?” Shivashankarappa, who has virtually become “synonymous” with Davangere in central Karnataka, says with a smile, expressing confidence of winning again.
Dwelling on how the Congress gave him a ticket given his advanced age, he replied wittily, “Only galloping horses are chosen for races. I am one such horse. I am going to win with the highest margin in the election.”.
The main fight of the elderly politician is with BJP’s B G Ajay Kumar, a former mayor of Davangere.
SS, as people around the veteran leader fondly call him, needs support while walking but has a good listening capacity, a clear voice and speaks his mind with clarity. He has declared assets worth Rs 312.75 crore (£30.5 million) while filing nomination.
When a reporter, quoting some reports, told him that someone from the minority community was supposed to get the ticket instead of him, the Congress leader playfully chided him, “Don’t create trouble. All are with me here (Davangere South). You don’t need to bother about it. Muslims and Lingayats are all with me.”.
An eminent educationist, who runs medical, engineering and nursing colleges, among others in Davangere, Shivashankarappa said he does not have a competitor in the electoral arena and he is sure of winning the election.
Shivashankarappa’s political acumen could be gauged from the fact that the party assigned him the job of getting former chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jagadish Shettar into the Congress fold, a party leader told PTI.
The ruling BJP denied Shettar a ticket to contest the upcoming elections following which he quit the party. The Congress was quick to induct him through Shivashankarappa, whose granddaughter and S S Ganesh’s daughter Anchal, is Shettar’s daughter-in-law.
The Congress has given ticket to Shivashankarappa’s son and former minister S S Mallikarjun to contest from Davangere North.
(With PTI inputs)
