The Bharatiya Janata Party led by Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa has emerged victorious by winning 12 out of the 15 Legislative Assembly seats during the recently concluded by elections.
The Indian National Congress (INC) won 2 seats and the JD (S) won zero.
The winners as declared by the Election Commission of India, constituency wise is the following:
1. Athani- Mahesh Iranagoud Kumatalli (BJP),
2. Kagwad- Shrimant Balasaheb Patil (BJP),
3. Gokak- Jarkiholi Ramesh Laxmanrao (BJP),
4. Yellapur- Arabail Hebbar Shivaram (BJP),
5. Hirekerur- BC Patil (BJP),
6. Ranibennur- Arunkumar Guththur (BJP),
7. Vijayanagara- Anand Singh (BJP),
8. Chikkaballapur- Dr K Sudhakar (BJP),
9. KR Pura- BA Basavaraja (BJP),
10. Yeshvanthapura- ST Somashekar (BJP),
11. Mahalakshmi Layout- K Gopalaiah (BJP),
12. Shivajinagar- Rizwan Arshad (INC),
13. Hosakote- Sharatkumar Bachegowda (Independent),
14. Krishnarajapete- Narayan Gowda (BJP) and
15. Hunasuru- HP Manjunath (INC)
Top INC leaders which include former CM Siddaramiah and Dinesh Gundu Rao have accepted the verdict and have tendered their resignations to interim President Sonia Gandhi.
The by polls were conducted last Thursday, during which the BJP fielded 13 out of the 15 disqualified candidates. It refused to let former Minister Roshan Baig join the party.
In a statement issued by Congress leader DK Shivakumar, the party has accepted defeat and said that the people’s verdict will have to be accepted even though they have voted for the defectors.
Also Read: Karnataka bypolls: Counting of vote begins, results expected by afternoon
BJP leader Eshwarappa had said that only those candidates who emerge victorious shall be offered Ministries.
At present, the total strength of the house is 222 (2 seats lie vacant due to an ongoing dispute in the Karnataka High Court). In the current house, the BJP has 105 seats along with the support of one independent candidate. They will need another 7 out of these 15 seats to comfortably cross the halfway mark.
The final results will be declared by the Election Commission of India by Monday evening.
It was in July that 17 legislators belonging to the JD (S)-INC coalition resigned and were subsequently disqualified by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly under the anti-defection laws for the remaining term of the Assembly. The Supreme Court on hearing the petition upheld the disqualification of the Speaker, however, permitted the disqualified members to contest the by polls.
Subsequently, most of them joined the BJP and contested elections. These by-elections were conducted in 15 out of the 17 vacant Assembly Constituencies. By-elections to 2 seats were withheld due to an ongoing dispute in the Karnataka High Court.
With this victory, the BJP will be in a comfortable position for their government’s remaining three and a half years in power and will be able to finish their term comfortably.
This victory marks the BJP’s firm entry into the south of Vindhyas and has also strengthened the position of CM Yeddyurappa in the state and within his party.