The BJP has produced a stunning electoral showing in its bastion Shivamogga district, winning in six of the seven Assembly segments.
B.S. Yeddyurappa, president of the party’s State unit, has won from Shikaripur constituency by defeating G.H. Malathesh of the Congress by a margin of 35,397 votes. In Shivamogga segment, K.S. Eshwarappa, former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP nominee, has won by a margin of 46,107 votes against K.B. Prasanna Kumar of the Congress.
The other BJP nominees who have won are Kumar Bangarappa from Sorab segment, H. Halappa from Sagar, Araga Jnanendra from Tirthahalli, and K.B. Ashok from Shivamogga Rural. B.K. Sangameshwar of the Congress has registered victory in Bhadravati segment.
In the 2013 Assembly elections, the Congress and the JD(S) won three seats each in the district while the Karnataka Janata Paksha won one. The split of votes caused by the formation of the KJP, headed by Mr. Yeddyurappa, was blamed for the BJP’s poor showing in the district.
Prior to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Yeddyurappa and his followers had returned to the BJP fold.
In the run-up to this election, several top leaders of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party’s national president Amit Shah, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, campaigned in the district. Congress national president Rahul Gandhi campaigned for his party’s candidates in the district by addressing an election rally in Shivamogga city.
The JD(S) has fared badly this time, with all its MLAs — M.J. Appaji from Bhadravati segment, Madhu Bangarappa from Sorab, and Sharada Poorya Naik from Shivamogga Rural — defeated.
