People of Hassan did not throw up any surprises this Assembly elections, the results of which were announced on Wednesday.
While the Janata Dal (Secular) retained its five seats in the district, the Congress retained two seats.
The JD(S) won in Hassan, Holenarsipur, Arsikere, Sakleshpur and Shravanabelgola constituencies while the Congress won in Belur and Arkalgud segments.
The JD(S) had fielded its MLAs in four constituencies and a fresher, C.N. Balakrishna, younger brother of the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s son-in-law C.N. Manjunath, in Shravanabelgola. Mr. Balakrishna won by a margin of 24,142 votes against his nearest rival, C.S. Putte Gowda of the Congress. JD(S) leader H.D. Revanna, who had won against S.G. Anupama of the Congress in Holenarsipur in 2008 by a margin of 27,606 votes, improved his winning margin to 30,058 against the same candidate.
In Arsikere, JD(S) candidate K.M. Shivalinge Gowda won by a margin of 29,631 votes. In 2008, he had won by a margin of 34,226 votes. In Sakleshpur, H.K. Kumraswamy defeated D. Mallesh of the Congress by a margin of 33,069 votes.
H.S. Prakash of the JD(S) retained his seat in Hassan. He faced a tough fight from Congress candidate H.K. Mahesh. Mr. Prakash, who had won the 2008 election by a margin of 16,804 votes, won this time by a margin of 4,196 votes.
Congress MLAs for Belur, Y.N. Rudresh Gowda, and Arkalgud, A. Manju, retained their seats.
Party-hoppers
Voters of Hassan did not favour party-hoppers this elections. H.M. Vishwanath, who quit the JD(S) and contested from Belur as the Karnataka Janata Paksha candidate, was pushed to the third spot.
Similarly, Mr. Putte Gowda, who joined the Congress after he was sure of not getting the JD(S) ticket, suffered a major setback in Shravanbelagola.
