The Indian National Congress (INC) scripted an empathetic victory in Karnataka assembly polls as trends showed the grand old party leading in over 130 seats. The ruling BJP fared poorly in the contest, with many of its senior leaders and cabinet ministers having to bite dust in the polls.
The results of the polls have been a source of disappointment for several prominent politicians, while others emerged victorious. Below is a list of the top winners and losers of the assembly elections.
1) Jagadish Shettar, Hubballi Dharwad Cenral
BJP turncoat and Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar had expressed confidence of victory by 'huge margin'. However, he was defeated by the BJP's Mahesh Tenginakai by margin of over 32,000 votes in Hubballi Dharwad central constituency.
Prior to the 2023 Karnataka Assembly Election, Shettar, a prominent Lingayat leader and former Chief Minister of Karnataka, resigned from the saffron party and joined the Congress after being denied a ticket from the seat. On Wednesday, May 10, when the polls were conducted for the 224 assembly constituencies in Karnataka, Shettar expressed his confidence in winning the election with a "significant margin".
2) Dr K Sudhakar, Chikkaballapura
In the Chikkaballapura Assembly constituency, the Congress' Pradeep Eshwar Ayyar emerged victorious against the BJP's Dr. K Sudhakar. Ayyar, a new entrant, contested against the incumbent Health Minister Dr. Sudhakar.
During the 2018 Assembly elections, Sudhakar ran on a Congress ticket and emerged victorious. However, he resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP, playing a crucial role in forming the BJP government in 2019.
The Congress, by defeating Sudhakar, has avenged for the 2019 coup led by him.
3) Nikhil Kumaraswamy, Ramanagara
Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda's family experienced an unexpected turn of events as his grandson and Janata Dal (Secular) (JDS) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy suffered a defeat in the Ramnagar constituency, losing to Congress candidate HA Iqbal Hussain.
Hussain secured 72,898 votes, while Kumaraswamy garnered 61,692 votes. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Gautham Gowda received only 10,870 votes. Notably, this marks the second defeat for Kumaraswamy's family, as his mother Anita Kumaraswamy had previously represented the seat.
4) V Somanna, Varuna and Chamarajanagar
In a major setback to the BJP, V Somanna, the outgoing BJP minister and senior leader, was defeated in both the Chamarajanagar and Varuna constituencies during the Karnataka Assembly elections. Although the official results had not yet been announced, Somanna lost to former CM Siddaramaiah of the Congress in Varuna and Congress candidate C Puttarangashetty in Chamarajanagar, TV9 Kannada reported. Somanna was previously the housing and infrastructure development minister in the outgoing government of Basavaraj Bommai.
5) CT Ravi, Chikmagalur
BJP's national general secretary and Tamil Nadu in-charge CT Ravi lost from Chikmagalur to Congress candidate HD Thammaiah. Congress swept Chikmagalur by winning all 5 assembly seats in the district.
6) R Ashoka, Kanakapura
Another BJP cabinet minister, Minister of Revenue R Ashoka, who was fielded against KPCC President DK Shivakumar in Kanakapura, had to face humiliating defeat. Ashoka lost to Shivakumar by a whopping margin of 1,20,00 votes, thereby losing his deposit in the contest as well. Ashoka could not even end up as runner up and ranked third in the contest. While DK Shivakumar garnered 1,42,156 votes, JD(S) candidate B Nagaraju polled 20,561 votes. R Ashoka managed to get only 19,602 votes.
1) DK Shivakumar, Kanakapura
DK Shivakumar, the Karnataka unit chief of Congress, achieved a resounding victory in the crucial Kanakapura constituency, securing a lead of over 1,20,00 votes. He competed against R Ashoka from the BJP and B Nagaraju from JD(S).
Shivakumar obtained a staggering 72 percent of the total votes, totaling to 1,42,156 votes. Nagaraju lagged behind in second place with 20,561votes, while BJP's R Ashoka trailed in third with 19,602 votes. With Congress swiftly approaching a clear majority in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls, Shivakumar is also anticipated to become the leading contender for the Chief Minister post.
2) Basavaraj Bommai, Shiggaon
Basavaraj Bommai, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, secured a victory in the VIP constituency of Shiggaon by a margin of over 35,000 votes against Congress candidate Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan. This marks Bommai's fourth consecutive win from the area.
Though the BJP had to face defeat across the state, CM Bommai managed to retain his own seat and saved face in the wake of several of his ministers losing the election.
3) Priyank Kharge, Chittapur
Priyank Kharge, the son of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, has won the Chittapur seat with a margin of 13,640 votes, securing 81,323 votes. His opponent, BJP's Manikanta Rathod, got 67,683 votes.Priyank was elected from this seat for the third time.
"I am grateful to the people of Chittapur for electing me for the third time. We will give the people of Karnataka a stable government. CM face will be decided by party high command," Kharge junior said after his victory.
4) Laxman Savadi, Athani
Laxman Savadi, who defected from BJP to Congress after being denied a ticket for the assembly polls, has emerged victorious from the VIP seat of Athani, defeating BJP's Mahesh Kumathalli.
Savadi, a prominent Lingayat leader, had switched to the Congress from the saffron party after it refused to allot the Athani seat to him.
5) Siddaramaiah, Varuna
Senior Congress leader and former CM SIddaramaiah continued his winning streak as he defeated BJP's V Somanna from the Varuna Constituency. Siddaramaiah emerged victorious in the Varuna constituency with a lead of 8,354 votes.
Siddaramaiah is also one of the main contenders for the CM post from Congress, along with DK SHivakumar.
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