Karnataka bypoll election: Congress sweeps Karnataka Assembly bypolls

NEW DELHI: Ruling Congress in Karnataka achieved a clean sweep in the crucial by-elections held on Saturday, retaining the Sandur constituency and wresting Shiggaon and Channapatna from the BJP and JD(S), respectively.

In the high-stakes Channapatna constituency, Congress candidate and senior leader CP Yogeshwara decisively defeated NDA candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Union minister HD Kumaraswamy. According to the Election Commission, Yogeshwara won by a significant margin of 25,413 votes, securing 1,12,413 votes against Kumaraswamy's 87,229.

The results bolster Congress’s position in Karnataka and mark setbacks for both the BJP and JD(S) in their efforts to regain footholds in key constituencies.

The vote counting for the bypolls conducted on November 13, is held in 3 segments.

There was a direct contest between the ruling Congress and BJP in the Sandur and Shiggaon constituencies, while in Channapatna, JD(S), a member of the NDA, faced off against the Congress party.

The bypolls for Sandur, Shiggaon, and Channapatna were initiated due to the vacancies created after their respective representatives: E Tukaram of Congress, former CM Basavaraj Bommai of BJP, and union minister H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S) — were elected to the Lok Sabha in the May elections.

Of the three constituencies, Channapatna saw a "high-profile" contest, with JD(S) actor-turned-politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of former CM H D Kumaraswamy and grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, leading against Congress' C P Yogeeshwara.

Yogeeshwara, a former actor-turned-politician and a five-time MLA from Channapatna, joined the Congress after leaving the BJP ahead of his nomination. He had also served as a former minister.

BJP and JD(S) leaders had together campaigned for Nikhil in Channapatna.

In Sandur, E Annapurna of Congress, wife of Bellary MP Tukaram, was competing for the seat vacated by her husband, leading against BJP ST Morcha president Bangaru Hanumanthu.

With the nomination of Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Bharath Bommai, the third generation of the Gowda and Bommai families stays deeply involved in this bypoll battle as both their fathers and grandfathers previously served as chief ministers of Karnataka.