In a major setback to the Congress in chief minister’s home district and to Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait, K P Ashwini, a rebel Congress candidate, emerged victorious by securing 1,248 votes, in the bypoll held for ward number 58 of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC).
The byelection was held on July 10 and the counting of votes was held at Government Maharaja's Sanskrit College in city on Wednesday.
Out of 6,126 voters, 3,594 had exercised their franchise. Ashwini defeated her nearest rival G Manju of JD(S) by a margin of 304 votes. Manju polled 944 votes while Congress candidate Manjunath, who managed to garner 924 votes, was pushed to the third slot, followed by BJP candidate N Suresh (Suri) with 37 votes.
As many as 10 candidates, including Amjad Khan from Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), and independent candidates—S Srinivas, Abdul, Nayaz Ahamad, Nazeem and Saleem Khan were in the fray.
The death of R Ananthu, Congress corporator of ward 58, had necessitated the byelection. Ashwini, wife of Ananthu, contested the polls as independent after Congress party denied her ticket. The party instead fielded G N Manjunath, one of the close aides of Primary and Secondary Minister Education Tanveer Sait. The ward comes under Narasimharaja Assembly constituency, represented by Sait.
Ashwini, a BA graduate, credited the victory to her husband late Ananthu. “Initially, Congress party had asked me to prepare for the bypoll. Later, the party leaders changed their mind and chose another candidate. I would not have contested the polls if the party had not told me to prepare,” she said.
Ashwini added, the party leaders had warned her that it would be difficult for her to contest as money matters in the election. “My husband did not earn money but, he had people’s blessings. I will follow his path and work for people’s welfare.”
Ashwini said her priority would be to complete the pending works in the ward on time. She also thanked the people of the ward for giving her an opportunity to serve them.
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