Counting of votes begins, NDA leading on 2 seats, Congress on 1
Bengaluru: Counting of votes for three assembly seats in Karnataka began at 8 am on Saturday at the designated places. Early counting trends show that the NDA is leading in two seats and the Congress is leading in one.
By-elections were held for Channapatna, the seat of Union Heavy Industries and Steel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, and Shiggaon, the seat of former CM and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai. The Sandur seat, where the BJP has never won, was represented by Congress MP E. Tukaram.
Counting of votes for the high-profile Channapatna seat is being held at the Ramanagara Engineering College. Deputy Commissioner Yashwant Gurukar has imposed prohibitory orders in the entire Ramanagara district in view of the sensitivity.
The prohibitory orders will continue till Sunday night and public gatherings, speeches and celebrations will remain prohibited. The move has been taken to maintain law and order in the district.
The Karnataka police have put in place tight security arrangements as the seat witnessed a close contest and recorded a voter turnout of 88.80 per cent.
Union Heavy Industries and Steel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is the MP from this seat. His son Nikhil Kumaraswamy is the NDA candidate and the Congress has fielded senior leader C.P. Yogeshwar.
Sources have confirmed that Nikhil initially took a lead over Congress candidate Yogeshwar in the counting of postal ballots.
The counting of votes for Shiggaon constituency is being held at the Government Engineering College in Devagiri in Haveri district. In the initial polling trends, BJP candidate Bharat Bommai is leading over Congress candidate Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan.
Bharat is the son of former CM and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai.
The Congress took a lead in its traditional stronghold Sandur constituency, where the BJP has never registered a win. The counting of votes is being held at the campus of the Government Polytechnic College in Bellary.
Sources have confirmed that Congress candidate Annapurna Tukaram has secured 6,959 votes and is leading by 2,586 votes over BJP candidate Bangaru Hanumanthu.
Political parties in Karnataka are eagerly awaiting the results of by-elections in three assembly constituencies, with results expected by noon.
The elections to all three seats have been held following the resignation of MLAs who had successfully contested the Lok Sabha elections.
Of the three seats, Channapatna is considered the most high-profile as it has witnessed a tussle between the families of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress president D.K. Shivakumar.
According to reports, massive betting activity has been witnessed in Ramanagara, Mandya and Bengaluru Rural districts over the election results. Some locals have reportedly placed bets of cars, two-wheelers, gold jewellery and even large sums of money. Wealthy landowners in Bengaluru and adjoining areas are said to have placed bets worth crores of rupees.
The results are crucial for the ruling Congress as well as the BJP and the JD(S).
