Davangere: Centre of ‘Siddaramotsava’ gravity

Greeshma Rao

 If you look up Davangere in Encyclopedia Britannica, you will learn that it is a place in central Karnataka situated in an upland area just east of the Tungabhadra river. The city is also a major road and rail junction, supports the large-scale textile industry big time and is a key trading centre for cotton and grain

Here’s more trivia: If you were to place a pin on the centre of gravity of the Karnataka map, you would be putting it right over Davangere.

Much has been stated and understood about this bustling potent city that also holds the key to thousands of crore rupees of the state’s economy by way of imparting education, and trading in food grain and cotton. A few decades ago when the state of ‘Karnataka’ was put together, the city of Davangere was a strong contender to be declared as its capital owing to its convenience of location and entrepreneurial spirit. Davangere old-timers are still smarting at the thought of the close race they lost to Bengaluru

The city is ever expanding and transmogrifying, feudal in some sense, yet seemingly modern, and triggers nostalgia that’s not too deep. It is also the Lingayat hotbed, while boasting of a healthy population of people belonging to other castes. An equal partner in both progressive and Hindu-centric politics, Davangere has always been a good player as per the tide

Reasons why this location was chosen as the venue of Siddaramotsava, from where the Congress has blown the bugle of reinvented political equations in the state, are very significant. Lingayat politics has to be the turning point. The city also has a sizeable Muslim population engaged in many professions starting from puffed rice units to huge business set-ups. Co-existence never goes out of sync here, which suits Cong’s secular politics. Other backward castes too exist in the equalopportunity environment that is integral to the town.

To put it on record, the city was among the very few in the south where Section 144 was imposed when the Babri Masjid was pulled down. In many ways Davangere is rustic and pushy when it comes to politics

The city is a safe haven for the Congress, what with senior educationist and politician, heavyweight player Shamanur Shivashankarappa and his son SS Mallikarjun both having fought elections on Congress tickets from here

The Shivashankarappa Mallikarjun duo is known for carrying ‘people power’.

Waves of people that kept colluding to Davangere were beyond the doing of any clever oganising, so much so that it caught even Siddaramaiah by surprise, let alone the Cong or BJP, which didn’t expect this to transpire

With Davangere being a very convenient point for people travelling from different regions such as Uttara Kannada, Uttara Karnataka, Dakshina Kannada, Coastal Karnataka, Mysuru Bengaluru-Tumakuru and the Shimoga belt, the mega rally saw the attendance of over 10 lakh people as per reliable sources.

This is a clear indication of a political shift waiting to happen. It only remains to be seen whether Siddaramaiah and Congress will be able to build on this tempo that people have vested them with