The voters of the Malnad region, which encompasses Hassan, Chikmagalur, Kodagu and Shimoga districts, have voted against the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party, which had won 11 seats in the 2008 polls, got just four seats this time. On the other hand, the Janata Dal (Secular) opened its account in Shimoga district by winning three seats.
The BJP was humiliated in Shimoga district, once considered its bastion, owing to the exit of the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa from the party. Though Mr. Yeddyurappa won in his segment, his mission of trouncing the BJP was unsuccessful. Both the Congress and the JD(S) benefited from the split in the BJP by winning three seats each. The saffron party failed to wrest even one seat in the district.
The JD(S) emerged as the major gainer with its candidates M.J. Appaji, Madhu Bangarappa and Sharada Poorya Naik registering victories in Bhadravathi, Sorab and Shimoga Rural constituencies respectively. Congress candidates Kagodu Thimmappa, Kimmane Rathnakar and K.B. Prasanna Kumar won in Sagar, Tirthahalli and Shimoga constituencies respectively.
JD(S)-KJP impact
The performance of the JD(S) in Chikmagalur district was impressive. It won two important seats — Kadur and Mudigere. Interestingly, Y.S.V. Datta (JD(S)) won by a huge margin of 42,433 votes.
Wherever the BJP suffered defeat, it did not emerge in the second spot. In Mudigere, it was the Congress candidate in the second place and BJP’s sitting MLA M.P. Kumaraswamy in the third spot.
The KJP could have wrought greater damage in the district had it taken Chikmagalur and Sringeri seats seriously. The JD(S) has retained all its five seats in Hassan, where the party is king.
