2019 Lok Sabha results: With BJP capturing power in Karnataka, the Congress-JD(S) alliance hangs precariously

Among victorious high profile candidates were state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra (Shimoga), who defeated another former chief minister S Bangarappa's son Madhu Bangarappa of JD(S) by a huge margin of 2,33,360 votes.

President of Indian National Congress party Rahul Gandhi (C) and Former Indian Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) Supremo H.D. Deve Gowda (R) speak while AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal (L) listens during an election campaign rally at Krishnaraja Nagar, some about 200 Kms South West of Bangalore on April 13, 2019. (FILE PIC/AFP)

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha results in Karnataka have left the Congress-JDS alliance and several political pundits dumfounded. The resounding win for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the southern state has now put the alliance hang precariously. The assembly results were a bellwether of the state’s voting behaviour that finally precipitated into the saffron party’s biggest victory in this Lok Sabha election. The ungainly Congress and JD(S)’s alliance has injected despondency into party workers which the BJP capitalised and bagged 25 out of the total 28 seats. Neither arithmetic nor chemistry worked for the two partners. Mounting fear has gripped the alliance as the leadership portends losing the support of its MLAs, against BJP's alleged attempt to launch a coup. The partners are keeping its flock intact and dismissing BJP’s claims of 20 of its MLAs willing to jump ship post-Lok Sabha poll outcome. JD(S) national president HD Deve Gowda and son, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, are deliberating on what went wrong but it wouldn't wrong to say that the duo is facing the worst nightmare of their political careers. Some senior Congress leaders have exacerbated the bickering between the alliance partners forcing Modi and the BJP to launch their plot. What would boost the morale of the BJP is making a major headway into the South Karnataka belt, also known as the old Mysuru region. Congress records its worst performance in the state

• Veteran party leader Mallikarjun Karge, popularly known as "solillada Saradara", (a leader without defeat) was trounced by BJP's Umesh Jadhav in Gulbarga by a margin of 95,452 votes. This was Kharge’s first electoral defeat.
• Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily faced was routed by BJP candidate B N Bache Gowda in Chikkaballapur by 1,82,110 votes. Moily couldn’t perform a hat trick. His party colleague and seven time MP from Kolar KH Muniyappa against BJP candidate Muniswamy by 2,10,021 votes.
• Young BJP leader Tejavi Surya (Bangalore South), who was given a ticket at the last minute denying it to Tejaswini, widow of former Minister and a six time MP from the seat Ananth Kumar, comfortably defeated senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad by 3,31,192 votes.

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• Former Prime Minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda in Tumkur were defeated by their BJP rivals, making the rout complete.
• Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh, supported by BJP, won the Mandya seat by 1,25,876 votes in a fiercely fought battle against Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil.
• While 87-year old Gowda was defeated by 13,339 votes in Tumkur against BJP's G S Basavaraj, Kharge suffered the first defeat in his political career at the hands of former party colleague Umesh jadhav, who resigned as MLA and joined the saffron party ahead of the elections, by 95,452 votes.
• As the Lok Sabha results was a double whammy for the Gowda clan, his another grandson Prajwal Revanna, son of minister H D Revanna was the only face saver, as he defeated A Manju of the BJP by 1,41,324 votes in Hassan. Gowda had shifted to Tumkur from his traditional bastion Hassan to make way for his grandson.
• Union minister D V Sadananda Gowda (Bangalore North) defeated his Congress rival and Karnataka Minister Krishna Byre Gowda by a huge margin of 1,47,518. His colleagues Ramesh Jigajinagi (Bijapur) and Anant Kumar Hegde (Uttara Kannada) won their seats by a margin of 2,58,038 and 4,79,649 votes.
• D K Suresh, brother of influential Karnataka Minister D K Shivakumara was the only Congress candidate to win the Lok Sabha polls. He defeated BJP's Ashwathnarayan Gowda by a margin of 2,06,870 in Bangalore rural.
• Among victorious high profile candidates were state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra (Shimoga), who defeated another former chief minister S Bangarappa's son Madhu Bangarappa of JD(S) by a huge margin of 2,33,360 votes.

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• While BJP has secured a vote share of 51.4 per cent, Congress and JD(S) got about 31.9 per cent and 9.7 per cent respectively, poll data showed.
• Of the 28 constituencies that went to the polls, BJP had won in 17, Congress in 9 and JD(S) in two seats during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. However, during the by-poll in November last year, BJP had lost the Bellary seat to Congress.
• While BJP had gained a vote share of 43.37 per cent in the 2014 polls, Congress and JD(S) had secured 41.15 per cent and 11.07 per cent respectively.

(With facts and figures from news agency PTI)