The BJP had already announced its candidates for the Karnataka bypolls (File image).The Congress’s reliance on political dynasties remains front and centre as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) finalised its candidates for the upcoming Karnataka bypolls. By fielding the kin of two deceased MLAs—Shamanuru Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti—the party has opted for family continuity over fresh leadership, sparking internal friction along both communal and familial lines.In Davanagere South, which was previously represented by Shivashankarappa, his grandson, Samarth Mallikarjun, will enter the electoral race. Meanwhile, in Bagalkot, Umesh Meti, the son of Meti, will also contest for the first time. The BJP has already announced its candidates for these constituencies: Srinivas T Dasakariyappa will run from Davanagere South, while three-time MLA Veeranna Charanthimath will contest from Bagalkot.Samarth is a third-generation politician from the Shivashankarappa family. His father, S S Mallikarjun, is the Minister for Mines and Geology in the Karnataka government, while his mother, Dr Prabha Mallikarjun, is an MP from the Davanagere Lok Sabha constituency.Even before the party announced the ticket, and amid intense lobbying by Congress Muslim leaders to field a community leader at the seat, Samarth had filed his nomination papers on Friday.The move had irked Muslim leaders, who, during a meeting held Saturday with AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, highlighted the issue and pointed out that more than a third of the voters from the constituency were from the minority community. KPCC president D K Shivakumar downplayed the incident, saying that Mallikarjun had clarified that his son would withdraw the nomination if the party decided otherwise. Congress MLC Abdul Jabbar was among the aspirants for the ticket.The Bagalkot seat was finalised following a dispute among four of Meti’s children over who should be the candidate. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a meeting with Meti’s sons, Mallikarjun and Umesh, and daughters, Bayyakka and Mahadevi, to reach a consensus.While both his sons were aspirants for the ticket, Mahadevi had threatened to contest from the seat even if the Congress did not field her.Story continues below this adThe BJP, meanwhile, had sprung a surprise at Davanagere South by finalising Dasakariyappa. Several state BJP leaders were of the view that GB Vinaykumar – a Kuruba leader who was keen to join the BJP to contest on a ticket – would be the candidate, but the party leadership decided to field the vice-president of its state ST Morcha unit.Charantimath has contested on a BJP ticket from the Bagalkot constituency since 2004, winning thrice and losing twice. He lost to Meti in 2023 by a margin of 5,878 votes.