BJP juggernaut rolls on in Malnad region

The BJP has emerged victorious in Central Karnataka and Malnad region and thus strengthened its political hold in this part of the state.

The Shimoga seat witnessed an electoral battle between the families of two former chief ministers - S Bangarappa and B S Yeddyurappa four times including the 2018 bypoll, since 2009. But Yeddyurappa’s family always had the last laugh. It continued even this time despite the united efforts by leaders and workers of coalition partners - Congress and JD(S).

The party has registered a massive victory in Davangere and Chitradurga constituencies too. In the Shimoga seat, Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra registered a remarkable victory against Madhu Bangarappa of JD(S) by a margin of 2,23,360 votes. B Y Raghavendra
bagged 7, 29, 872 votes while Madhu Bangarappa got 5,06,512 votes.

This is the second highest victory margin in Shimoga constituency after Yeddyurappa had emerged victorious in 2014 against Congress by a margin of 3.63 lakh votes.

The strong network of BJP at the grassroots level, the presence of seven party legislators out of eight assembly segments under the Lok Sabha constituency, the Modi again factor, youths’ obsession with Modi and development works implemented by Yeddyurappa during his tenure as chief minister played a vital role in the victory of Raghavendra.

The sanction of Rs 200 crore for the implementation of irrigation projects in the district and loan waiver scheme by the state government did not prove beneficial for Madhu.

Even the political strategies of the DKS brothers (D K Shivakumar and D K Suresh, known as troubleshooters in Congress,) who camped in Bhadravathi a few days before the voting, did not produce the desirable result.

Davangere

The sitting MP and BJP nominee G M Siddeshwara not only continued his victory march in Davangere constituency for the fourth time in a row, but also improved his margin. He had emerged victorious in the last three polls by a narrow margin. But this time, the margin was 1,69,702 votes. BJP gained 6,52,996 votes and H B Manjappa of Congress got 4,83,294 votes. A ‘weak’ Congress candidate belonging to the Kuruba community in a constituency dominated by Lingayats and the Modi wave helped the BJP.

Chitradurga

BJP nominee A Narayanaswamy defeated the sitting MP and Congress nominee B N Chandrappa by a margin of 80,178 votes. BJP gained 6,26,195 votes, while Congress got 5,46,017 votes.

The ‘Modi again’ also played a key role.