The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a victory in Sindgi, snatching another seat from the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), who had won the constituency in 2018.
Ramesh Bhusanur of the BJP led from the very beginning in the seat that fell vacant after the demise of MC Managuli in January, further eroding the JD(S) numbers in north Karnataka where its presence is limited to a few stray seats. As per data from the ECI, the JD(S) managed to secure only 4,353 votes or 2.66% vote share.
Bhusanur secured 93,865 votes with 57.31% of the vote share as against his closest competitor, Ashok Managuli of the Congress who managed to secure 62,680 votes or 38.27% of the vote share, data from Election Commission of India (ECI) showed at 3.45 pm. Managuli’s son, Ashok, had joined the Congress just before the bypolls, further aggravating the JD(S).
Managuli lost the seat with a margin of nearly 30,000 votes, data from the election commission of India (ECI) showed.
“Ramesh Bhusanur has won with a margin of over 30,000 votes which was beyond our expectations,” BS Yediyurappa, who had spent a few days campaigning in the constituency said on Tuesday.
The Congress was banking on the sympathy wave to help Managuli’s son, Ashok, win the seat. But with no development platform, the campaigning had turned extremely personal between the senior leadership of all three parties.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had deployed its entire cabinet and senior leadership in both constituencies to help Bommai secure the first electoral battle since he took over as chief minister on July 28.
{{/usCountry}}The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had deployed its entire cabinet and senior leadership in both constituencies to help Bommai secure the first electoral battle since he took over as chief minister on July 28.
{{/usCountry}}“In Sindgi we were in third place (in 2018). Before Managuli died, he met us and showed interest in joining the Congress. Compare the previous elections and this one, if we see the votes, it is some satisfaction for us,” DK Shivakumar, the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) said.
Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda too had campaigned in Sindgi, hoping to retain the seat with the regional party that appears to have come down to under 30 seats with recent losses and defections. “They called JD(S) as BJP’s “B” Team with malafide intent and the bypoll results is the right answer to them,” HD Kumaraswamy, the JD(S) leader and former chief minister had said. The JD(S) was also accused of fielding a minority candidate in both constituencies to split the Muslim vote and help the BJP win.