In what is being touted as a referendum for the BS Yediyurappa-led government in Karnataka, the BJP is set for a major victory in the bye-elections, as they lead in 12 out of 15 segments that went to polls on December 5. The four-month-old BJP government in the state needed to win six constituencies to seal its hold in Karnataka. Out of the 15 constituencies that went to bye-elections, the Congress won two seats, while the JD(S) has not gained ground in any segment. As the BJP was emerging victorious, Congress leader and former minister DK Shivakumar accepted defeat. As on 2 pm on Monday, results were declared in nine segments - Shivajinagar, Hunsur, Hirekerur, Chikkaballapura, Kagwad, Yellapur, KR Pete, Mahalakshmi Layout and Gokak. Shivakumar said, “Whatever the people have decided, we have to accept that. We have to go by the mandate of the people, even if they have accepted those who betrayed and defected. We have accepted defeat.” Speaking to the media after the victory trend was set, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said that the disqualified MLAs, who won the bye-elections would get ministerial berths. “We will give ministerial berths to all disgruntled MLAs who helped us come back to power. I am from Bookanakere in Mandya and I am extremely happy to know that our candidate has won in Mandya. This is a big victory and I thank all the party workers, who worked day and night to ensure our victory. With the new leaders in our fold, we will work towards strengthening the party. We will speak with the high command and see what can be done with those leaders who did not win,” Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said. As on 2 pm on Monday, BJP candidates in Athani, Ranebennur, Vijayanagara, KR Puram, Yeshwanthpura and Mahalakshmi Layout segments, were leading. The Congress, however, won in Shivajinagar and Hunsur, while the JD(S) did not lead in a single segments. Independent candidate from Hoskote, Sharat Bachegowda, was leading by a huge margin against BJP’s MTB Nagaraj. The leads Several of the turncoats, who were given BJP tickets are expected to win the bye-election. BJP candidate from KR Pete, KC Narayana Gowda defeated JD(S)’s BL Devaraj. In Hirekerur, BJP’s BC Patil won against Congress’ BH Bhannikod. In Chikkaballapura, K Sudhakar defeated Congress candidate M Anjanappa. In Gokak constituency, Ramesh Jarkiholi defeated his brother and Congress candidate, Lakhan Jarkiholi. In Kagwad, BJP’s Srimanth Patil defeated Congress candidate Raju Kage. Anand Singh, the BJP candidate from Ballari’s Vijayanagara was leading with a huge margin against Congress’ Venkatrao Ghorpade. In Bengaluru’s Mahalakshmi Layout, JD(S) turncoat, who was given a BJP ticket -- K Gopalaiah defeated Congress candidate M Shivaraj. Byrathi Basavaraj, the BJP candidate from KR Puram was leading. He was up against his former mentee and Congress candidate M Narayanaswamy. ST Somashekar, meanwhile, defeated JD(S)’ Javayayi Gowda from Yeshwanthpur. In Athani, Mahesh Kumatahalli was leading against his Congress opponent Gajanan Mangsuli. In Yellapur, Shivaram Hebbar won against Congress candidate Bhimanna Naik. In Ranebennur, BJP candidate Arun Kumar, who was pitted against Congress heavyweight KB Koliwad, was leading. The disqualified MLAs were leading in 11 of the 12 segments that the BJP is likely to win. The Congress, meanwhile, won only two seats, in Shivajinagar and Hunsur. In Hunsur, the party’s HP Manjunath defeated JD(S) turncoat, AH Vishwanath, who contested on a BJP ticket. The party’s Rizwan Arshad won the elections in Shivajinagar and defeated the BJP’s A Saravana. Sources said that Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had advised AH Vishwanath not to contest elections as the surveys conducted by the BJP indicated that he would lose. However, Vishwanath allegedly wanted to fight the polls to prove his mettle. Independent candidate and former BJP Yuva Morcha General Secretary, Sharat Bachegowda gained massive grounds against BJP candidate and one of the richest politicians in the state — MTB Nagaraj. With this expected victory in 12 segments, the party is likely to hold 117 seats in the 222-member Assembly. The total strength of the Karnataka Assembly is 224, with bye-elections yet to be held in Rajarajeshwarinagar and Maski. What necessitated the bye-polls The bye-elections were necessitated after 17 legislators with the Congress-JD(S) coalition resigned from their posts in July this year, accusing the then Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy of misadministration. Ten of the 17 MLAs had flown to Mumbai in a private chartered plane until the vote of confidence brought down the coalition. The Congress and JD(S) leaders had accused the BJP of bribing these MLAs and forcing them to resign. The former Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar had disqualified the rebel MLAs. Speaker Ramesh Kumar had also barred them from contesting polls till the end of the 15th Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The rebels had moved the Supreme Court in August this year and finally, in November, the Supreme Court upheld their disqualifications but also maintained that the Speaker could not determine the period in which these rebels could not contest. A day after the Supreme Court verdict, the BJP inducted 16 of the 17 rebels into its fold, and were given tickets to contest in the bye-elections.
