2023 Karnataka Assembly Elections: How Did The Turncoats Perform?

In the run up to the polls, several leaders across board switched sides and ditched their parties.

(Photo: The Quint)

Trends by the Election Commission for the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections indicate a comfortable victory for the Congress party.

In the run up to the polls, several leaders across board switched sides and ditched their parties.

Here, The Quint looks at how the results are looking for turncoats in the state.

Jagadish Shettar

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Indian National Congress (INC) leader Jagdish Shettar lost from the Hubbali-Dharwad Central seat to the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Mahesh Tenginkai, during the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election on Saturday, 13 May, by a margin of 34,289 votes.

A former Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Shettar resigned from the party in April after being denied a ticket to contest the assembly election and subsequently joined the INC.

Laxman Savadi

Laxman Savadi, another leader who jumped ship to the Congress from BJP, is leading in the Athani Assembly constituency won by a margin of over 76,122 votes. BJP candidate Mahesh Kumathalli, who had shifted from the Congress to the BJP, lost.

Savadi served as the deputy CM of Karnataka between August 2019 to July 2021.

Interestingly, Kumathalli who is contesting on a BJP ticket was previously with the Congress.

Kiran Kumar 

In Chikkanayakanahalli in Tumakuru district, Congress' Kiran Kumar lost by 10,042 votes to JD(S) leader Suresh Baabu.

Kumar quit the BJP and joined Congress in February 2023. He is from an RSS background.

HD Thammaiah

In the highly-watched Chikkamagaluru seat, HD Thammaiah from the Congress defeated CT Ravi of the BJP by 5,926 votes. Thammaiah previously worked as an aide to Ravi before switching sides to the Congress.

MP Kumaraswamy 

MP Kumaraswamy, a former BJP leader, quit the party to join JD(S) after he was denied ticket from Mudigere. Kumaraswamy, however, is trailing by a margin of over 7,000 votes against the Congress and BJP candidates in the constituency.