Bengaluru: E. Annapoorna of the Congress party has won the bye-election to the Sandur ST Reserve Assembly constituency in Karnataka by 9,649 votes, the counting for which was held on Saturday.
Annapoorna secured 93,616 votes defeating her nearest rival BJP candidate Bangaru Hanumantha, who managed to get 83,967 votes. The counting for all 19 rounds was completed according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Reacting to the victory, State Minister for Labour Santhosh Lad said the Congress party 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.
“The result has shown that the people are with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah,” he stated.
Meanwhile, teased by Congress workers after the declaration of defeat, the BJP candidate Bangaru Hanumanthu challenged the Congress supporters that he will ensure victory for BJP in the 2028 Assembly elections.
According to the ECI, in the high-profile Channapatna constituency, NDA candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy was trailing by 26,462 votes at the end of the 18th round.
Nikhil polled 77,702 votes while the Congress candidate C.P. Yogeshwara got 1,04 lakh (1,04,164) votes.
There are 20 rounds of counting for this segment which witnessed a remarkable 88.80 per cent voting in the bye-election. A total of 390 voters opted for NOTA here.
Nikhil Kumaraswamy is Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumarswamy’s son.
In the Shiggaon Assembly constituency, BJP candidate Bharath Bommai was trailing by 13,840 votes in round 17. He polled 85,919 votes and Congress candidate Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan who suffered an initial setback managed a strong comeback and got 99,399 votes. The counting of one round is remaining. 823 NOTA votes have been cast so far.
The 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 legislators who successfully contested the Lok Sabha elections.
Of the three seats, the Channapatna seat is considered the most high-profile, as it has witnessed a showdown between the families of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress President D. K. Shivakumar.
The by-elections were held for the high-profile Channapatna Assembly seat represented by Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H. D. Kumaraswamy, Shiggaon seat held by former CM and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai. Sandur’s seat, where BJP has never won, was represented by the Congress MP E. Tukaram.
–IANS
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