<p>The JD(S), on Tuesday, tasted dismal defeat in the Hangal and Sindagi bypolls, with the latter being a seat it had won in 2018.</p>.<p>The number of votes garnered by the JD(S) in Sindagi dropped to about 4,353 this time, in sharp contrast to the 70,000 votes that the party secured in the 2018 Assembly polls. </p>.<p>The party had then fielded the late M C Managuli, following whose demise the bypoll was held.</p>.<p>His son, Ashok Managuli, joined the Congress and polled 62,680 votes, finishing second after BJP’s Ramesh Bhusanur. In 2018, Bhusanur had lost to Managuli. </p>.<p>In Hangal, the regional party failed to cross even 1,000 votes. However, this is no different from the previous election there. In JD(S) legislature party leader H D Kumaraswamy’s own words, the party does not have a base in Hangal. </p>.<p>The bypoll defeat comes at a time when the JD(S) has announced its aim to come to power independently in the 2023 Assembly polls. </p>.<p>JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy sought to play down the defeat, stating that the party was not concerned with the bypolls as its eyes were set on 2023.</p>.<p>Gowda said his party had done much development work in Sindagi. He alleged that both BJP and Congress spent enormous amount of money for the byelections.</p>.<p>“The word out there is that BJP has distributed Rs 10,000 per vote,” he alleged. However, they are not disheartened and he would continue to tour the region, Gowda said. </p>.<p>Meanwhile, Kumaraswamy charged that the Congress had dented into their grassroots network by ‘hijacking’ Managuli’s son Ashok.</p>.<p>Alleging that neither BJP nor Congress had any interest in minority welfare, the JD(S) had fielded Muslim candidates - Naziya Angadi in Hangal and Niyaz Shaik in Sindagi - for the byelections. Kumaraswamy had also lashed out at the RSS for religious polarisation. </p>.<p>This, even as the Congress kept training its guns on JD(S) and accused it of fielding Muslim candidates just to ‘split’ Congress votes.</p>.<p>Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah said the Muslim community never trusted JD(S) in the past and will not do so in the future.</p>.<p>“They know that the JD(S) is an opportunistic party.”</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
<p>The JD(S), on Tuesday, tasted dismal defeat in the Hangal and Sindagi bypolls, with the latter being a seat it had won in 2018.</p>.<p>The number of votes garnered by the JD(S) in Sindagi dropped to about 4,353 this time, in sharp contrast to the 70,000 votes that the party secured in the 2018 Assembly polls. </p>.<p>The party had then fielded the late M C Managuli, following whose demise the bypoll was held.</p>.<p>His son, Ashok Managuli, joined the Congress and polled 62,680 votes, finishing second after BJP’s Ramesh Bhusanur. In 2018, Bhusanur had lost to Managuli. </p>.<p>In Hangal, the regional party failed to cross even 1,000 votes. However, this is no different from the previous election there. In JD(S) legislature party leader H D Kumaraswamy’s own words, the party does not have a base in Hangal. </p>.<p>The bypoll defeat comes at a time when the JD(S) has announced its aim to come to power independently in the 2023 Assembly polls. </p>.<p>JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy sought to play down the defeat, stating that the party was not concerned with the bypolls as its eyes were set on 2023.</p>.<p>Gowda said his party had done much development work in Sindagi. He alleged that both BJP and Congress spent enormous amount of money for the byelections.</p>.<p>“The word out there is that BJP has distributed Rs 10,000 per vote,” he alleged. However, they are not disheartened and he would continue to tour the region, Gowda said. </p>.<p>Meanwhile, Kumaraswamy charged that the Congress had dented into their grassroots network by ‘hijacking’ Managuli’s son Ashok.</p>.<p>Alleging that neither BJP nor Congress had any interest in minority welfare, the JD(S) had fielded Muslim candidates - Naziya Angadi in Hangal and Niyaz Shaik in Sindagi - for the byelections. Kumaraswamy had also lashed out at the RSS for religious polarisation. </p>.<p>This, even as the Congress kept training its guns on JD(S) and accused it of fielding Muslim candidates just to ‘split’ Congress votes.</p>.<p>Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah said the Muslim community never trusted JD(S) in the past and will not do so in the future.</p>.<p>“They know that the JD(S) is an opportunistic party.”</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
