Karnataka bypolls: Ensuring victory on 12 seats, BJP all set to retain power

Bangalore, December 9: The ongoing counting of votes in Karnataka bypolls clears that the BJP is close to winning in 12 constituencies of the 15 seats which went to the bypolls in Karnataka. While Congress has won in two constituencies the independent has won in only one constituency.

 

 

 

The counting of votes began at 8 am today. The elections had taken place at Yellapur, Ranebennur, Vijayanagar, Yeshwantpur, Mahalakshmi Layout, Chikkaballapura, KR Puram, Shivajinagar, KR Pet, Hunsur, Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Hirekerur and Hoskote.

 

While the overall polling percentage was 67.91, the highest voter turnout was recorded in Hoskote assembly segment (90.9 per cent), whereas the lowest was KR Puram (46.74 per cent).

 

Karnataka Chief Minsiter B. S. Yediyurappa's son, B. Y. Vijayendra, said that the party's performance is a clear indication of the will of the people of the region who have gone beyond considerations of caste and supported the BJP. This by-elections was crucial for BJP, which needed to win at least seven seats to ensure simple majority in legislative assembly.

BJP’s rebel candidate Sharat Bache Gowda (son of B. N. Bache Gowda, BJP MP from Chikkaballapura) is leading over BJP’s official candidate MTB Nagaraj.

 

 

 

Earlier trends also showed that the BJP bagged the Yellapur seat. Its candidate Shivram Hebbar has trounced Congress candidate Bheemanna Naik.

The party is also leading in Ranebennur, Vijayanagara, Mahalakshmi Layout, Chikkaballapura, KR Puram, KR Pete, Athani, Gokak, Hirekerur.

Congress leads in Shivajinagar, Hunsur & Kagwad.

JD(S) leads in Yeshwantpur while the Independent leads in Hoskote.

The by-elections were held on December 5.

The by-elections was necessitated following the resignation of 17 MLAs (14 from Congress and three from JDS) to join the saffron fold. In 13 of the 15 seats, the BJP has fielded Congress-JDS turncoats.

 

 

 

In the run up to the polls, ruling BJP campaigned offering ‘stable government’ in the state and also fielded and campaigned for disqualified MLAs (who defected from Congress and JDS), while the opposition campaigned hard to defeat the defectors and also highlighted poor handling of flood relief especially in the Mumbai-Karnataka districts.