Karnataka Result 2023: BJP Turncoat Jagadish Shettar Loses From Hubballi-Dharwad Central

Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who joined Congress after being denied a ticket for the assembly polls, lost from the VIP seat of Hubli-Darwad Central against BJP's Mahesh Tenginkai.

BJP Turncoat Jagadish Shettar Loses From Hubballi - Dharwad Central

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who joined Congress after being denied a ticket for the assembly polls, lost from the VIP seat of Hubli-Darwad Central by over 30,000 votes against BJP's Mahesh Tenginkai, as the counting for the 224-member assembly in Karnataka is underway. 

The EC numbers show that BJP's Tenginkai has secured 64,910 votes, while Congress candidate Shettar got 29,340 votes.

Shettar's reputation was at stake after he filed for nomination as the Congress candidate after the BJP denied him a ticket. Notably, Shettar won on a BJP ticket three times in the 2008, 2013, and 2018 elections from this seat.

To give a tough fight, Bharatiya Janata Party fielded Mahesh Tenginakai as its candidate, while JDS had chosen Siddalingesh Gowda Mahanthavadeyar.

According to the Election Commission, the Congress party is leading in most constituencies in the state. The Congress is leading at 130 seats and the BJP is leading at 66 seats. The JD(S) too is leading at 22 seats.

The counting process began at 8 am across 36 centres throughout the state. The voting on May 10 witnessed a "record" turnout of 73.19 per cent, as citizens cast their votes to elect representatives for the 224-member Assembly.

The run-up to the polls witnessed a number of wars of words between the senior party leaders. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Congress in each of his rallies, Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi responded with corruption and unemployment charges against him. 

The state saw a three-cornered fight between the incumbent BJP, an aggressive Congress and the Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular).

A total of 2,615 candidates were in the fray. Karnataka has 224 constituencies spanning six regions -- Bengaluru, Central, Coastal, Hyderabad-Karnataka, Mumbai-Karnataka and Southern Karnataka or Old Mysore region. Mumbai-Karnataka and Southern Karnataka are the largest regions of the state and consist of 50 and 51 Assembly seats respectively.

In the 2018 election, Deve Gowda's son HD Kumaraswamy became the CM after JD(S) entered into a post-poll alliance with Congress. No party secured a majority in that election. However, the government lasted barely a year, with BJP weaning away MLAs, leading to the collapse of the JD(S)-Congress government in July 2019. BJP had emerged as the single largest party in the House in the 2018 election, winning 104 seats.