Can BJP beat Koppal's anti-incumbency mood?

In Koppal Assembly constituency, it is the ruling party candidate who invariably loses the poll, results of the past six elections show.

In the 1989 Assembly elections, Mallikarjuna Divatar won as an independent candidate, but the Congress came to power in the State.

In 1994, Karadi Sanganna contested as an independent candidate and won, but the JD(S) became the ruling party. In 1999, Sanganna contested on a  JD(U) ticket, but the Congress came to power. He contested again on a BJP ticket in 2004, but was defeated.

The victorious candidate, K Basavaraj Itnal was from the Congress, and the Congress-JD(S) coalition took over the reins of power in the State.

In 2008, Sanganna (JD-S) defeated Basavaraj Itnal (Congress). The BJP formed the government in the State.

The voters believe that the legislators elected from the constituency have never been from the ruling party, and hence, the constituency has not seen any major development work in the past many years.

Now, if Sanganna, who quit the JD(S) to join the ruling BJP, wins the bypoll, it will dispel the jinx. If not, history repeats.  For Koppal, bypoll and an Opposition party MLA resigning to join the ruling party are both unprecedented. This has aroused curiosity about the outcome of the bypoll scheduled to be held on September 26.