Beating back a stiff challenge from the BJP, the ruling Congress retained the Nanjangud (reserved) and Gundlupet seats in the Assembly byelections.
The twin triumphs have come as a shot in the arm for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who had campaigned aggressively during the last 10 days of the byelections in Nanjangud, which is in his home district Mysuru, and Gundlupet in the adjoining Chamarajanagar district, considered traditional Congress strongholds. These victories buck the national trend where Congress has done badly in byelections in other States that simultaneously faced polls.
The former Minister, V. Srinivas Prasad, who had thrown a challenge to Mr. Siddaramaiah by resigning from the Assembly and joining the BJP, was humbled in the bypolls in Nanjangud. Mr. Prasad lost to Congress candidate Kalale Keshavamurthy by a margin of 21,334 votes in an election dubbed as a prestige battle between him and Mr. Siddaramaiah.
ADVERTISEMENT
In adjoining Gundlupet, the former Minister, Mahadev Prasad’s wife Geetha Mahadeva Prasad, who contested as a Congress candidate defeated BJP’s C.S. Niranjan Kumar by a margin of 10,877 votes despite extensive campaigning by the former Chief Minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa. The results of the byelections evoked much interest as they come a year ahead of the next Assembly elections and were described as a barometer of public perception. While the bypoll to Nanjangud was owing to Mr. Prasad’s resignation from the Assembly after he was dropped from the Siddaramaiah Cabinet, the bypoll to Gundlupet was held in the wake of the death of Mahadeva Prasad, who represented the constituency. The fiercely contested byelections were a straight fight between the Congress and the BJP after JD (S) chose to stay out of the electoral battle from both the constituencies.