BJP locked in fierce contest with Cong, JDS in bypolls

A total of 71 candidates are in the fray from Govindarajanagar, Chitapur (Res), Chennapatna, Ramanagara and Kollegal (Res) constituencuies, which have an electorate of about 10.10 lakh.
The stakes are high for BJP which is looking to win as many seats as possible, besides ensuring victory of two Congress defectors seeking relection- Housing Minister V Somanna (Govindarajanagar) and Cine actor C P Yogeshwar (Chennapatna), to enhance its strength of 114 (excluding speaker) in the 224-member house.
The BJP is also trying to make inroads into the Congress citadel in Chitapur, where Union Labour Minister M Mallikarjun Kharge's son Priyank is contesting, besides in Kollegal and Ramanagara, a seat vacated by former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy of the JDS.
The Congress has been going all out to retain the four seats- Govindarajanagar, Kollega, Chitapur and Chennapatna.
The bypoll in Chitapur, Kollegal and Ramanagar was necessitated following the election of Kharge, Dhruvanarayana and Kumaraswamy to the Lok Sabha.
Over 4,600 security personnel have been deployed in the constinuencies.
Counting of votes will be held on August 21.