Operation Lotus tastes defeat

Both, Housing Minister V Somanna and Channapatna BJP candidate C P Yogeeshwara had to taste defeat at the hands of the voters. Somanna had won the 2008 Assembly polls from the Govindrajnagar constituency on a Congress ticket but quit his Assembly seat and joined BJP eventually to be rewarded with ministership. Yogeeshwara, who also had won the Assembly polls in 2008 quit his membership in the Lower House to contest the Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket.

In contrast to December 2008 bypolls when the electorate had sent back to the Assembly, four of the five candidates snarled under Operation Lotus including four ministers - Umesh Katti, Anand Asnotikar, Balachandra Jharkiholi and Shivanagouda Naik, the people this time have shown the door to partyhoppers.