Congress wins Sandur, Channapatna, Shiggaon bypolls

Bengaluru, Nov 23 (IANS): 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.

In the high-profile Channapatna constituency, NDA candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy lost by 25,413 votes. 

Nikhil polled 87,229 votes while the Congress candidate C.P. Yogeshwara got 1,12,642 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 427 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 lost by 13,448 votes. He polled 87,308 votes and Congress candidate Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan who suffered an initial setback managed a strong comeback and got 1,00,756 votes. As many as 834 NOTA votes were cast. 

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.