From having won the seat by securing over 44% of the votes in the last Assembly elections to losing deposit in Sindagi now, Janata Dal (Secular) loss in the byelections is nothing short of humiliating. In Hangal, the party candidate could not even garner 1,000 votes. The tally of JD(S) legislators in north Karnataka districts is now down to five from six.
In Sindgi, JD(S) candidate Nazia Angadi lost her deposit. The late M.C. Managuli of the party had won the seat in 2018 by 70,865 votes. Ms. Angadi got only 4,321 votes, around 2.6% of the total polled votes. In Hangal, JD(S) nominee Niyaz Shaik could get only 927 votes.
JD(S) leaders, having fielded both minority candidates, had argued that theirs was the real secular party and that the Congress had exploited minorities all through. JD(S) leadership was also upset with M.C. Managuli’s sons Ashok Managuli and Shantaveer Managuli joining the Congress after the death of their father. In campaign speeches, both JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had asked the voters not to favour the “deserters”.
The general allegation against the JD(S) by the Congress was that it had fielded Muslim candidates only to split the secular votes. However, the results show that the JD(S) made no impact even on that count, given its miniscule vote share. Mr. Kumaraswamy’s plan of expanding the party base with Muslim candidates hardly had any impact on the electorate.
Some said that in Sindagi, Muttahida Mahaj, a federation of voters, had appealed against voting for the JD(S), which would ultimately benefit the BJP by splitting secular votes. However, Tanveer Ahmed, a spokesperson for the federation, denied the reports.
“The federation does not support or oppose any party. Its main agenda is to create awareness about the election process and strengthen local political outfits,” he said.
