Vijayanagar’s hat-trick hero Anand Singh (BJP) made it four with a convincing win in the by-election, defeating Venkatrao Ghorpade of Congress by a healthy margin of 30,125 votes. Interestingly, in 2018 Assembly elections, Anand Singh, contesting on Congress ticket, had scrape past H R Gaviyappa of BJP by just 8,228 votes.
Singh, who fought the bypoll on ‘making Vijayanagar district’ plank, opened a good 1,510 votes lead against Ghorpade in the first round. Singh managed to maintain a steady lead and by the end of the 11th round, the gap between him and Congress nominee widened beyond 12,000 votes. In the subsequent rounds, Singh had it easy and eventually sealed the deal with a margin of 30,000-plus votes.
JD(S) candidate N M Nabi and BJP rebel candidate Kaviraj Urs failed to live up to the hype they had generated ahead of the bypoll. Both managed to poll a tad under 4,000 votes.
My last election: Singh
A beaming Anand Singh said he was hopeful of getting a Cabinet berth and a district tag for Vijayanagar.
Speaking to reporters after his resounding victory in the bypoll to Vijayanagar Assembly constituency, Anand Singh said, “ In the bypoll, I had campaigned in the name of Vijayanagar district. I will stay true to my words. I will fulfil promises made ahead of the by-elections, including making Vijayanagar a district and implementing lift irrigation scheme in the constituency.
He added, This is my last election. Also, no one from my family will contest elections. I will take up organisational work to strengthen the party in the next election.
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