The Bharatiya Janata Party, with a mandate of more than a 100 seats, has emerged as the single largest winning party in Karnataka. However, now with the Congress and JD(S) seemingly joining hands, the key question remains about who will form the government in the State.
Here are some of the key winners and losers in the Karnataka elections.
Winners
B.S. Yeddyurappa - BJP
The State BJP unit president and the party candidate for the CM post, B.S. Yeddyurappa won from the Shikaripur segment by a margin of 35,397 votes. Mr. Yeddyurappa got 86,983 votes, while his Congress rival G.H. Malathesh got 51,586 votes.
H.D. Kumaraswamy - JD(S)
JD(S) leader and a possible Chief Minister candidate for the State, H.D. Kumaraswamy is leading from both the constituencies he contested in - Ramanagaram and Channapatna. Iqbal Hussain from the Congress is the trailing candidate for the former, while C.P. Yogeeshwara from the BJP is the trailing candidate for the latter.
Preetham Gowda - BJP
Preetham Gowda from BJP won the Hassan seat, defeating four-time MLA H.S. Prakash of the JD(S). This win is significant because Hassan is considered to be a strong JD(S) bastion. In the 2013 elections, the BJP had not won even one seat in the district.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (left) and BJP Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa show their inked fingers on May 12, 2018. Photos: PTI, Twitter/@BSYBJP
S. Yathindra - Congress
Yathindra, Mr. Siddaramaiah’s son, won the Varuna seat by a giant margin - nearly double the votes as BJP candidate T. Basavaraju.
Priyank Kharge - Congress
Tourism Minister Priyank Kharge won the Chittapur constituency in Kalaburagi district. BJP candidate Valmik Naik lost the seat by a margin of less than 4,500 votes. Kharge was one of the very few Congress candidates who retained their previous seats.
Losers
Siddaramaiah - Congress
Karnataka’s outgoing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lost the Chamundeshwari seat to JD(S)’ G.T. Deve Gowda with a margin of more than 35,000 votes. Mr. Siddaramaiah barely scraped through with the Badami seat, beating BJP’s B. Sriramalu with a margin of only around 1,600 votes.
B. Sriramulu. File
B. Sriramulu - BJP
Like Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Kumaraswamy, tribal leader Mr. Sriramulu also contested in two seats - Badami and Chitradurga’s Molakalmuru. The BJP candidate lost the Badami seat, even though he was leading at one point. However, he won the Molakalmuru seat beating Congress’ B. Yogesh Babu by nearly double the number of votes. His loss in the Badami constituency is significant, as his elevation was seen as a move aimed at advance planning for 2019.
H.M. Revanna - Congress
Transport Minister and veteran heavyweight from the Ramanagaram district, H.M. Revanna, came third in the race for Channapatna. He is losing to JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, having just 30,208 votes to Mr. Kumaraswamy’s 87,995. BJP candidate C.P. Yogeeshwara with 66,465 votes was in second place.
Baburao Chinchansur - Congress
The Gurmitkal assembly constituency, where the Congress has won during the last two elections, went to JD(S) this time, with Nagangouda Kandkur winning over Mr. Chinchansur with a margin of over 24000 votes. Gurmitkal is also a seat that Congress heavyweight Mallikarjun Kharge had won multiple times in the past.
Congress in Dakshina Kannada
The party encountered a reversal of fortunes from 2013. Where Congress had won seven out of eight seats in 2013, the party won only one this time - U.T. Khader from Mangaluru (Ullal). BJP on the other hand won the other seven seats - Moodabidri, Belthangady, Mangaluru (City North), Mangaluru (City South), Bantval and Puttur.
