Karnataka Polls: JD(S) Leader Swaroop Prakash Defeats BJP's Preetham J Gowda In Hassan By 8,895 Votes

In 2018, BJP's Preetham J Gowda had broken the JD(S) monopoly on the Hassan seat, defeating H S Prakash by a margin of about 13,006 votes.

New Delhi: Janata Dal (Secular) leader Swaroop Prakash snatched the Hassan seat from the BJP's Preetham J Gowda, securing a victory by a margin of 8,895 votes. This Karnataka constituency witnessed a neck-and-neck fight with the JD(S) candidate bagging 84,005 votes while the BJP's Gowda polled 75,110 votes. Congress candidate Banavase Rangaswamy was in the third place with 4241 votes.

In 2018, Gowda had broken the JD(S) monopoly on the seat, defeating H S Prakash by a margin of about 13,006 votes.

According to the data of Election Commission, Hassan recorded a voter turnout of 81.57 per cent in the elections held on May 10. Out of 14,99,917 voters, 12,23,505 exercised their franchise.

Notably, the counting process began at 8 am across 36 centres throughout the state on Saturday. 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.

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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.  

The run-up to the Karnataka elections witnessed a number of wars of words between the senior party leaders. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Congress in each of his rallies, Congress leaders 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).

Meanwhile, Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the party's impressive performance in the Karnataka election is the victory of "Janata Janardhan". He confirmed that all newly-elected MLAs have been asked to come to Bengaluru in the evening and once 'High Command' sends observers, other processes will follow.