K.S. Eshwarappa, former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP candidate from Shivamogga segment, has won by a comfortable margin of 46,107 votes over K.B. Prasanna Kumar of the Congress in the Assembly elections.
While Mr. Eshwarappa secured 1,04,027 votes, Mr. Kumar got 57,920. H.N. Niranjan of the JD(S) received 5,796 votes.
In the 2013 polls, Mr. Eshwarappa was pushed to third position. This time, his candidature had become a sticky wicket for the BJP leadership as S. Rudre Gowda, president of the party’s district unit, was a strong aspirant for the ticket.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Mr. Eshwarappa dedicated his victory to the 21 functionaries of Hindutva groups allegedly killed under Congress rule in the State.
