The bypolls were held to fill the vacancies caused by the disqualification of 17 rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs, whose revolt led to collapse of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July and paved the way for BJP to come to power.
It’s almost certain now that the BS Yediyurappa-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will sustain in Karnataka after early trends in the state byelection results showed the saffron party leading 12 of the 15 seats, followed by Congress in two constituencies.
Acknowledging people’s verdict, senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar said the party will have to come to terms with the mandate of the voters of these 15 constituencies. “People have accepted the defectors. We have accepted defeat, I don’t think we have to be disheartened,” he said.
The Congress candidates are leading on the Hunasuru and Shivajinagar constituencies.
One independent candidate, Sharath Kumar Bachegowda is also leading from the Hosakote seat.
The counting of the votes commenced at 8 am today and results are likely to be declared by this afternoon.
The result will not just decide the fate of BJP government in the state but also of those thirteen rebel MLAs, who had sought the re-election following their resignation from erstwhile Congress-JD(S) coalition.
Yediyurappa had confidently said that BJP will win at least 13 seats and the government will be “safeguarded”.
The elections were held for 15 Assembly seats which were left vacant after the legislators resigned in July, triggering the collapse of the Congress-JDS coalition and paving the way for the BJP to come to power.
(With inputs from agencies)
Prasanta Patnaik