<p>Congress retained both seats -- Bagalkot and Davengere South -- which went to the bypolls in Karnataka.</p><p>Umesh Meti a political novice and Son of former MLA HY Meti, clinched his maiden win from Bagalkot constituency, which went for bypoll following demise of his father H Y Meti. </p><p>Umesh won by a margin of 21,866 against BJP candidate and three time MLA Veeranna Charantimath.</p><p>Meanwhile, Congress retained the Davangere South seat by 5,703 votes. Samarth Shamanur Mallikarjun got 68,578 votes while BJP's Srinivas T Dasakariyappa managed to get 63870 votes and SDPI candidate got 18975 votes.</p><p>Initially, Congress was trailing before pulling it back midway through.</p><p>Earlier, in a rare incident, locks of the three strong where electronic voting machines were stored had to be broken to gain entry into them on Monday as the keys went missing. </p>.Davangere bypoll results | Locks of strongrooms broken after keys misplaced.<p>The voting for the bypolls was held on April 9.</p><p>The polls were necessitated by the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti (Bagalkot) and Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Davanagere South).</p><p>Although the outcome of these by-elections is unlikely to have an immediate impact on state politics, the contest is seen as a matter of prestige for both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP.</p><p>According to the Election Commission, the voter turnout in Bagalkot was 68.74 per cent, and it was 68.43 per cent in Davanagere South.</p><p>14 tables each were set for vote counting on EVMs at counting centres both in Bagalkot and Davangere South assembly segments, where nine and 25 candidates were in the fray, respectively.</p><p>The BJP fielded former MLA and 2023 defeated candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath from Bagalkot, and a fresh face, Srinivas T Dasakariyappa, from Davangere South.</p><p>The Congress gave tickets to family members of the late legislators in both constituencies. Bagalkot candidate Umesh Meti is the son of H Y Meti, while Samarth Mallikarjun from Davanagere South is the grandson of Shamanur Shivashankarappa.</p><p>Samarth's father, S S Mallikarjun, is a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet and in charge of Davanagere district, while his mother, Prabha Mallikarjun, is a Member of Parliament from the region.</p><p>(With inputs from agencies)</p>
<p>Congress retained both seats -- Bagalkot and Davengere South -- which went to the bypolls in Karnataka.</p><p>Umesh Meti a political novice and Son of former MLA HY Meti, clinched his maiden win from Bagalkot constituency, which went for bypoll following demise of his father H Y Meti. </p><p>Umesh won by a margin of 21,866 against BJP candidate and three time MLA Veeranna Charantimath.</p><p>Meanwhile, Congress retained the Davangere South seat by 5,703 votes. Samarth Shamanur Mallikarjun got 68,578 votes while BJP's Srinivas T Dasakariyappa managed to get 63870 votes and SDPI candidate got 18975 votes.</p><p>Initially, Congress was trailing before pulling it back midway through.</p><p>Earlier, in a rare incident, locks of the three strong where electronic voting machines were stored had to be broken to gain entry into them on Monday as the keys went missing. </p>.Davangere bypoll results | Locks of strongrooms broken after keys misplaced.<p>The voting for the bypolls was held on April 9.</p><p>The polls were necessitated by the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti (Bagalkot) and Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Davanagere South).</p><p>Although the outcome of these by-elections is unlikely to have an immediate impact on state politics, the contest is seen as a matter of prestige for both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP.</p><p>According to the Election Commission, the voter turnout in Bagalkot was 68.74 per cent, and it was 68.43 per cent in Davanagere South.</p><p>14 tables each were set for vote counting on EVMs at counting centres both in Bagalkot and Davangere South assembly segments, where nine and 25 candidates were in the fray, respectively.</p><p>The BJP fielded former MLA and 2023 defeated candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath from Bagalkot, and a fresh face, Srinivas T Dasakariyappa, from Davangere South.</p><p>The Congress gave tickets to family members of the late legislators in both constituencies. Bagalkot candidate Umesh Meti is the son of H Y Meti, while Samarth Mallikarjun from Davanagere South is the grandson of Shamanur Shivashankarappa.</p><p>Samarth's father, S S Mallikarjun, is a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet and in charge of Davanagere district, while his mother, Prabha Mallikarjun, is a Member of Parliament from the region.</p><p>(With inputs from agencies)</p>
