The BJP has won the by-polls to BBMP from A. Narayanapura ward. The party candidate Vijaya S.S. Prasad won over Congress candidate D.A. Gopal by 393 votes.
The by-poll to the ward was conducted on Sunday and the votes were counted at the K.R. Puram First Grade College on Wednesday.
In the first two rounds of counting, the Congress was in the lead. However, in the third round, the BJP gained over the other six candidates in the fray.
Of the 14,370 votes polled, the BJP secured 7,047, followed by Congress at 6,654, CPI(M) at 370, Janata Dal (Secular) at 135. The two independent candidates secured 136 and 28 votes each.
Former Councillor S.S. Prasad, who fielded his wife after being disqualified, told The Hindu that he was happy with the victory. "However, we were expecting to win with a 2,000 vote margin. The results show that the people have been 'bought'," he said.
Though the election officials repeatedly appealed to the party workers to not raise slogans and not burst crackers since the election code of conduct was in force, the workers paid no heed.
Soon after the results were declared, slogans rent the air. Excited workers hugged each other, distributed sweets to celebrate the victory, even as the Congress workers quietly left the counting centre.
Though he lost, independent candidate K. Kumar was a happy man. He was happy to have gained one vote more than the JD(S). "The party denied me the ticket. I contested as a rebel candidate. I only prayed that I take one vote more than the JD(S)," he said.
