Bypoll results to be out by afternoon

Counting of votes for the bypolls to the three Assembly constituencies in the State will be taken up on Monday and the results are expected to be out by afternoon.

While the outcome of the bypolls will have no bearing on the position of the State government as the Congress is comfortably placed number-wise in the Legislative Assembly, it is bound to have political implications.

The run-up to the polls witnessed high-voltage campaigning with the Congress and the BJP taking the polls as a prestige issue. The JD(S) did not contest any of the three constituencies - Chikodi-Sadalaga, Bellary Rural and Shikaripur. The ruling Congress is keen to make a clean sweep in the bypolls. The BJP, on the other hand, having performed well in the Lok Sabha polls, wants to keep the momentum going, setting the stage for its revival at the Assembly level.

Of the three constituencies, one (Chikodi-Sadalga) is held by the Congress and two (Shikaripur and Bellary Rural) by the BJP (considering that former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa who won the Shikaripur seat on a KJP ticket and former minister B Sriramulu who won the Bellary Rural seat on a BSR Congress ticket joined the BJP).

Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha said elaborate security arrangements have been made at the counting centres. Observers would be deployed at the counting centres to supervise the process, he said. Counting will begin at 8 am. In all, 22 candidates are in the fray in the three constituencies.

The poll outcome would be a big test for Siddaramaiah as he will have to soon take up the tedious task of going in for a Cabinet expansion and making appointments to various boards and corporations. A favourable verdict for the Congress in the bypolls is bound to consolidate Siddaramaiah’s position.