The stage is set for the final leg of bypolls held in Karnataka, as the counting of votes has begun for three Lok Sabha seats – Shivamogga, Ballari and Mandya and two assembly constituencies of Jamakhandi and Ramanagara.
The counting of votes began at five centres, one each in five constituencies, at 8 am on Tuesday morning. A total of 1,248 counting staff deployed. Around 67 percent voter turnout was recorded in the bypolls for the five constituencies. A total of 31 candidates are contesting from all the five constituencies.
Out of the three parliamentary constituencies, the BJP held two, while the JDS one. The BJP holds Shivamogga, which is a stronghold of its state chief BS Yeddyurappa, and Ballari, which is the fiefdom of mining baron Reddy brothers. Mandya is the JDS bastion. It is to be noted that the results of the bypolls are being viewed as a litmus test for the ruling Congress-JDS alliance and opposition BJP.
In the fray are Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s wife Anita Kumaraswamy, state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra and former Chief Minister S Bangarappa’s son Madhu Bangarappa and others.
Kumaraswamy’s wife is expected to win the Ramanagara seat vacated by her husband, after BJP nominee L Chandrashekhar withdrew from the contest and rejoined the Congress. In Jamkhandi, the contest is between Congress’ Anand Nyamagowda and BJP’s Srikant Kulkarni.
While in Shivamogga, Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra is testing his fortunes against another former chief minister S Bangarappa’s son Madhu Bangarappa of the JD(S), in Ballari, senior BJP leader Sriramulu’s sister J Shantha is fighting against V S Ugrappa of the Congress, considered an outsider.
In the Vokkaliga bastion of Mandya, JD(S)’s Shivarame Gowda, is pitted against a fresh face in Dr Siddaramaiah, a retired Commercial Tax officer from the BJP.
In the year 2014, the BJP had won 17 of Karnataka’s 23 parliamentary seats. The Congress won 9 and HD Kumaraswamy’s Janata Dal Secular 2 seats. The BJP won 104 of the 224 seats in the assembly election in May this year.
Also Read: Karnataka by-poll 2018: Voting begins, semi-final for Congress and JD(S) alliance