The incumbent Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) alliance in Karnataka on Tuesday registered its victory in two assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats in the by-polls. The BS Yeddyurappa led Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party managed to win only one Lok Sabha seat, Shimoga.
In Jamkhandi, Congress contestant Anand Nyamgouda defeated BJP’s Srikant Kulkarni by a margin of 39,480 votes. Earlier, former MLA Siddu Nyamagouda’s died in a road accident and further by poll was imposed in the constituency.
In Mandya Lok Sabha constituency, JDS candidate L Shivarame Gowda evolved spectacular victory with 3.24 lakh votes over BJP candidate Siddaramaiah, a former civil servant. Mandya constituency is dominated by the Vokkaliga community, to which former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda belongs.
Chief minister HD Kumaraswamy’s wife Anitha Kumaraswamy won the Ramanagara assembly, where BJP provided a straight walkover to the JDS. L Chandrashekhar, who had joined the BJP ahead of by-polls returned to Congress just two days before the voting.
Congress’s VS Ugruppa won the Bellary Lok Sabha seat along with the support of Congress leader DK Shivakumar. Bellary is considered as a BJP’s fort and the seat was vacated after Sriramulu resigned in May 2018.
Shimoga, which is a traditional seat of Karnataka BJP Chief B.S. Yeddyurappa, the party managed a victory and opened its account in Karnataka by-polls. BJP’s B.Y. Raghavendra, son of party Chief BS Yeddyurappa, won the Shivamogga assembly seat.
The by-polls came as a big blow for the opposition BJP ahead of the 2019 elections. Conversely, Congress party has got overwhelming response especially in Bellary, where BJP leaders Sriramulu and Reddy brothers hold a strong presence, however, Congress leader DK Shivakumar played a crucial role in making poll strategies and campaigning for the VS Ugruppa.
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