Bengaluru, Nov 23: Karnataka’s ruling Congress on Saturday won all three seats in the crucial by-elections, retaining the Sandur constituency while wresting the Shiggaon and Channapatna constituencies from the BJP and the JD-S, respectively.
According to the EC, in the high-profile Channapatna constituency, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the NDA candidate and son of Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, was defeated by Congress candidate, senior leader C.P. Yogeshwara by a big margin of 25,413 votes.
Nikhil Kumaraswamy polled 87,229 votes while Yogeshwara got 1,12,413 votes. The segment had witnessed a remarkable 88.80 per cent voting in the bye-election. A total of 427 voters opted for NOTA here.
In the Shiggaon Assembly constituency, BJP candidate Bharath Bommai, son of MP and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, was defeated by 13,448 votes by the Congress candidate Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan. Pathan, who suffered an initial setback, managed a strong comeback and got 1.07 lakh votes.
Bharat Bommai polled 87,308 votes, and 834 NOTA votes were cast. E. Annapoorna of the Congress has won the by-election to the Sandur-ST constituency by 9,649 votes. She secured 93,616 votes defeating her nearest rival, BJP candidate Bangaru Hanumantha, who managed to get 83,967 votes.
Reacting to the victory, State Minister for Labour Santhosh Lad said the Congress had won the seat for the seventh consecutive time. The result has shown that the people are not bothered about allegations of Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam, Waqf row and mainly Tribal Welfare Board scams, he said.
“The result has shown that the people are with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah,” he stated. Mocked by Congress workers after the declaration of defeat, the BJP candidate Hanumanthu challenged them, saying that he would ensure victory for the BJP in the 2028 Assembly elections.
In Shiggaon, Congress supporters have started chanting ‘bye, bye Bommai’ slogans. They also celebrated with the waving posters of Minister for Waqf and Housing Zameer Ahmad Khan. The three went to the polls following the resignations of sitting legislators who successfully contested the Lok Sabha elections.
Of the three seats, the Channapatna seat was considered the most high-profile, as it witnessed a showdown between the families of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress President D. K. Shivakumar.
The Channapatna Assembly seat was represented by Union Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy, Shiggaon seat was held by former CM and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai. Sandur’s seat, where the BJP has never won, was represented by the Congress MP E. Tukaram.
IANS