As the Congress juggernaut rolled on in the State, 23 former Ministers who held various portfolios in governments headed by the former Chief Ministers B.S. Yeddyurappa and D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, including Deputy Chief Minister K.S. Eshwarappa, lost their electoral battle.
Seventeen candidates who served as Ministers in the Shettar government were defeated.
These Ministers and the former Ministers contested the elections from different political parties.
Mr. Eshwarappa’s loss in Shimoga is all the more significant as he was a former State BJP president and held the key portfolios of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and Revenue in the Shettar Government.
He was the Minister for Energy in the Yeddyurappa government.
Mr. Eshwarappa was pushed to third position in Shimoga. K.B. Prasanna Kumar of the Congress defeated S. Rudre Gowda of the Karnataka Janata Paksha by a margin of 278 votes. Mr. Eshwarappa was on the “hit-list” of Mr. Yeddyurappa, who has had sweet revenge.
Another prominent Minister who lost is Murugesh R. Nirani who, as Industries Minister, spearheaded two global investors’ meets in 2010 and 2012.
Mr. Nirani was in two minds till the last minute whether to join forces with the KJP, but he eventually continued in the BJP, and contested from Bilagi. J.T. Patil of the Congress humbled the Minister by a margin of 11,238 votes.
The other Ministers from the Shettar government who lost are V. Somanna (Vijayanagar), B.N. Bache Gowda (Hoskote), Revu Naik Belamagi (Gulbarga Rural), A. Narayanaswamy (Anekal), Sogadu Shivanna (Tumkur), S.K. Bellubbi (Basavanbagewadi), Kalakappa Bandi (Ron), S.A. Ravindranath (Davangere North), S.A. Ramdas (Krishnaraja), Anand Asnotikar (Karwar), M.P. Renukacharya (Honnali), Shobha Karandlaje (Rajajinagar), Narashima Naik alias Raju Gowda (Shorapur), C.M. Udasi (Hangal) and Sunil Valyapure (Chincholi).
G. Karunakar Reddy , C.C. Patil (Naragund), Gulihatti Shekar (Hosadurga), Krishna J. Palemar (Mangalore City North), H. Halappa (Sorab), and Krishnaiah Setty (Malur), who served as Ministers in the Yeddyurappa and Sadananda Gowda governments, were also defeated.
As many as 14 candidates — Mr. Eshwarappa, Mr. Nirani, Mr. Somanna, Mr. Bache Gowda, Mr. Belamagi, Mr. Narayanaswamy, Mr. Shivanna, Mr. Bellubbi, Mr. Bandi, Mr. Ravindranath, Mr. Ramdas, Mr. Asnotikar, Mr. Karunakar Reddy, Mr. C.C. Patil and Mr. Palemar — contested the elections on the BJP ticket and lost.
Ms. Karandlaje, Mr. Udasi, Mr. Renukacharya, Mr. Halappa and Mr. Valyapure contested on the KJP ticket and lost the electoral battle, while Mr. Gulihatti Shekar and Mr. Krishnaiah Setty contested as Independents and lost.
Mr. Narasimha Naik, who quit the BJP and joined the Janata Dal (S) just before the announcement of the elections, was also defeated.
