Congress-JD(S) scores 4-1 victory over BJP in Karnataka bypolls

The Congress-JD(S) alliance won two out of three Lok Sabha seats and both the Assembly seats for which byelections were held recently

CM HD Kumaraswamy's wife Anita was among those who won the byelections that were held for three Lok Sabha and two Assembly seats

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Congress won in Ballari, a BJP bastion
2. BJP failed to make inroads into Congress or JD(S) strongholds
3. Shivamogga was the lone seat where BJP was ahead

The Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance registered a 4-1 victory in the recently held bypolls in Karnataka. The byelections were held for three Lok Sabha seats -- Ballari, Mandya and Shivamogga -- and two Assembly seats -- Ramanagara and Jamkhandi.

Congress's VS Ugrappa won from Ballari -- a Bharatiya Janata Party bastion -- with a massive margin. While the JD(S)'s Shivarame Gowda won from Mandya.

The Shivammoga Lok Sabha seat was the only battle where the BJP had an edge with the party's BY Raghavendra winning in the constituency.

The Ramanagara and Jamkhandi Assembly seats were both won by Congress-JD(S) candidates.

Congress leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram likened the 4-1 victory to a cricket "test series win under Virat Kohli". "The coalition has delivered," Chidambaram tweeted.

4-1 result (unsure about Shimoga LS) in Karnataka looks like a Test series win under Virat Kohli. Coalition has delivered.

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) 6 November 2018

Karnataka Congress leader and a minister in the state government, DK Shivakumar, said that bypoll results were an indication of the Congress-JD(S) alliance's good fortunes in next year's Lok Sabha election.

"This Deepavali, I thank the people of Karnataka & especially Bellary for blessing Congress party with this record victory," Shivakumar tweeted, adding that the alliance was sure to win more than 20 of Karnataka's 28 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 general elections.

This Deepavali, I thank the people of Karnataka & especially Bellary for blessing Congress party with this record victory.

With support & guidance of Congress President Shri @RahulGandhi & Former PM Shri HD Devegowda, the coalition leaders & workers strived hard to defeat BJP

— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) 6 November 2018

Among the interesting takeaways from the bypoll results was that the BJP failed to make any inroads into the JD(S)'s Lok Sabha bastion of Mandya and the Congress's Assembly stronghold of Jamkhandi.

The Congress, on the other hand, was able to wrest the BJP's Lok Sabha seat of Ballari.

Among the prominent winners today were Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's wife Anita, who won from the Ramanagara Assembly constituency, and state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra who won in Shivamogga.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/karnataka-bypoll-results-final-congress-jds-win-over-bjp-1383350-2018-11-06