Congress sweeps 3 Karnataka bypolls, sons of 2 ex-Chief Ministers lose bid
Congress sweeps 3 Karnataka bypolls, sons of 2 ex-Chief Ministers lose bid
M.U.H
23/11/202418
The Congress on Saturday swept all three Assembly bypolls in Karnataka--Shiggaon, Sandur, and Channapatna--defeating two BJP candidates and a JD(S) candidate. Among those defeated were the sons of former Chief Ministers Basavaraj Bommai and HD Kumaraswamy.
Congress’s Pathan Yasir Ahmed Khan won the Shiggaon seat by a margin of 13,448 votes, defeating BJP’s Bharat Bommai, son of Basavaraj Bommai.
In Channapatna, Congress candidate CP Yogeeswara defeated JD(S)’s Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Union Minister and former Chief Minister, HD Kumaraswamy, by a margin of 25,413 votes.
Congress candidate E Annapoorna secured victory by 9,649 votes against BJP’s Bangara Hanumantha in In Sandur. Annapoorna is the wife of E Tukaram, the Congress MP from Ballari, who was elected to Lok Sabha.
The Shiggaon seat was previously held by BJP leader and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who won the constituency in the 2023 elections, defeating Yasir Ahmed Khan. The bypoll was necessitated after Bommai was elected to the Lok Sabha from Haveri.
Channapatna was earlier represented by HD Kumaraswamy, who had defeated the BJP in the previous election when JD(S) was an alliance partner with the Congress. Kumaraswamy’s election to the Lok Sabha necessitated the by-election.
The Congress retained the Sandur constituency, where E Tukaram had won in the previous election by defeating BJP’s Shilpa Raghavendra.
With these results, the Congress’s tally in the Karnataka Assembly has risen to 137.
The by-election sweep, achieved amid several allegations, including accusations of corruption against the ruling Congress and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, is expected to bolster the party’s prospects in the state.
Following the results, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar credited the victory to Siddaramaiah's leadership and the implementation of the party's five guarantees. He described the triumph as a prelude to the 2028 Assembly elections, expressing confidence that the Congress would secure another victory then.
