Bangalore: The ruling BJP in Karnataka created history of sorts by bagging the Sira Assembly segment in Tumakuru district for the first time with party candidate CM Rajesh Gowda emerging the winner in the recent bypolls. Gowda defeated his closest Congress rival TB Jayachandra, a six-time MLA and former minister, by a margin of over 12,000 votes, officials said. JD(S) that had won the seat in the 2018 Assembly elections has been relegated to third place. With this win, the BJP won both the seats that had gone to bypolls in Karnataka.
The bypoll, held on November 3, has been necessitated in Sira following the death of JD(S) MLA B Sathyanarayana in August. Apparently eyeing sympathy votes, the JD(S) had fielded Ammajamma B, wife of Sathyanarayana.
BJP’s Rajesh Gowda is a radiologist and the son of former Congress MP CP Mudalagiriyappa. He had recently joined the ruling party. His win is significant as this is the first ever success for the BJP in Sira, which falls in old Mysore region, where the party had been weak traditionally.
With its negligible presence in the constituency where Congress and JD(S) had been the traditional rivals, the BJP had not polled more than 24,000 votes in the past.
After winning KR Pet and Chikkaballapura Assembly seats in the December 2019 bypolls, the BJP has been focussing on making further inroads in the old Mysuru region.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s son and state BJP vice-president BY Vijayendra, who played a key role in winning KR Pet in 2019, along with other leaders had camped in Sira to ensure the party’s victory. This win will add another feather to his cap, with him being seen as Yediyurappa’s political heir, sources said.
Earlier in the day N Munirathana emerged the winner in Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency with a margin of over 58,000 votes against his nearest Congress rival Kusuma H, officials said.
Munirathna had won the RR Nagar seat as a Congress candidate in 2018 and the bypoll was necessitated by his disqualification, following which he joined the BJP last year. This is the third straight victory for Munirathna since 2013 in the constituency and his first as the BJP candidate.
