Kumaraswamy trounces Hegde's daughter

Former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy continues to lead in Ramnagaram, while cine star Ambareesh continues to trail behind in Sringapattna.

Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) candidate and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday won from Ramanagaram constituency, trouncing rookie Congress candidate Mamatha Hegde, daughter of late chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde.

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According to initial reports from the state election commission at Ramanagaram, Kumaraswamy won by about 47,000 votes.

By retaining the prestigious seat in the new district, about 40 km from India's IT hub, Kumaraswamy has broken the jinx of the Ramanagaram voters not electing the same candidate in every assembly election.

And also by defeating her, Kumaraswamy demolished the myth that male members of the Gowda family would not win if they were pitted against a woman candidate -- as predicted by an unnamed astrologer four-five years ago.

The prediction gained currency after the humiliating defeat his father and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda suffered at the hands of young Congress candidate Tejaswani Ramesh from the Kanakapura Lok Sabha seat in 2004.