Janata Dal (Secular) president and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has triumphed in the prestigious battle for Mandya parliamentary seat in Karnataka.
Mr. Kumaraswamy polled 8,51,881 votes while his nearest rival Venkataramane Gowda (alias ‘Star’ Chandru) of the Congress polled 5,67,261 votes in the Vokkaliga heartland. With a margin of 2,84,620 votes, Mr. Kumaraswamy has established an unassailable lead over his Congress rival.
Karnataka Election Results 2024 LIVE updates
The constituency was represented by Sumalatha Ambareesh who had won as an independent in the 2019 parliamentary elections with backing of the BJP. She had campaigned for the BJP in the Assembly polls of 2023.
The BJP, on its part, had persuaded Sumalatha Ambareesh to refrain from seeking re-election. The latter not only agreed but also joined the BJP, which prevented a three-way split of votes in the constituency.
Though the electoral face-off was between H.D. Kumaraswamy and Venkataramane Gowda, it was also reckoned to be a fight for the Vokkaliga leadership in the agrarian district involving Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar of the Congress who is positioning himself as a prominent leader of the community.
Though there were 15 candidates in the fray, the battle for Mandya was perceived to be a direct contest between the NDA represented by its ally — the JD (S) — and the Congress in the absence of any ‘notable other’. After 18 rounds of counting, NOTA (None Of the Above) was in the third place with as many as 7,425 votes.
Incidentally, the JD(S) was worsted in seven of the eight Assembly segments in the 2023 Assembly elections
HDK: ‘Congress failed to wipe off JD(S) in Karnataka’
Reacting to the election trends, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that the results in south Karnataka show that the electorate has approved ‘our decision to ally with the BJP’.
“The results in Tumakuru, Chikkaballapura, Chitradurga, Mysuru, Kolar and Mandya prove that people have approved of the BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) alliance,” Mr. Kumaraswamy told mediapersons in Bengaluru.
On the future of the alliance, the former Chief Minister said that it would be long-lasting one. “The media had analysed that both Vokkaliga and Lingayat community members have approved the alliance. The result has proved us right.”
“Though more than 25 seats were expected by the NDA, we did not meet the target. It was predicted that Dr. C.N. Manjunath, who was fielded on the advice of Home Minister (Amit Shah), will win. In Hassan, there was some fault with the decision. In future, we will solve the issues and come back.”
Expressing unhappiness over the overall trend in Karnataka, he said that he was unhappy that Congress got 10 seats. “Because of some small mistakes, the NDA lost another six seats. The atmosphere in five constituencies in Kalyana Karnataka was favourable to us. There were some problems, including finances. There were small mistakes from our side. I will not blame anyone. It is unfortunate that the NDA could not capitalise on the opportunities in several seats in Karnataka,” he said.
He does not believe that the Congress did well in Kalyana Karnataka due to the guarantee schemes. “The way in which Congress used money power also helped their candidates.” The vote share of Congress has increased due to local issues, he added.
He said that though Congress had been spreading falsehood about JD(S) and claimed that it will finish off the regional party by winning 20 seats in Karnataka, it did not happen. “I thank people of Karnataka and party workers for ensuring good results.”
