In a setback to the BJP and the party leader and Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai, Congress snatched the Hangal Assembly constituency from the ruling party with a margin of 7,426 votes, as per the Election Commission of India. This is as per the latest update at 7 pm.
The BJP's loss in Haveri, the home district of CM Bommai, where Hangal falls, may also affect his political future in the state which is heading towards Legislative Assembly elections in 2023.
Congress candidate Srinivas Mane secured 87,300 votes in Hangal constituency. BJP's Shivaraj Sajjanar, a former MLA from Haveri, secured 79,874 votes.
However, in a saving grace, the Bharatiya Janata Party won Sindgi seat – where elections were held simultaneously – with a whopping margin of 31,185 votes. Here, the BJP's B Ramesh Balappa secured 93,380 votes.
The Hangal seat was personal to Basavaraj Bommai as these bypolls were his first electoral battle since he took over as the chief minister in July. The new CM has been at the helm of affairs for the last few months, after former Chief Minister BS Yediyruappa resigned, on 26 July, from his post following political pressure to do so.
Loss After Bommai's Emotional Appeal
The embarrassing loss to BJP come days after CM Bommai, on October 17, made an emotional appeal in Hangal, indicating he and the BJP candidates are the sons of the soil.
“We (BJP) are rooted here. Shivaraj Sajjanar (BJP candidate) was born here and will die here, Shivakumar Udasi (BJP MP) was born and will die here. I too will die here and I will be buried here,” he reportedly said. After the Hangal loss, the CM, however, said that he has taken the election setback seriously, and "will take the necessary corrective action".
Congress' win in the seat is the result of the "good work" that Congress candidate Srinivas Mane did during the last three year, a political analyst said.
"Congress winning Hangal was never a fluke. It also shows that if you work well you can gain ground in any constituency. Srinivas Mane had lost the previous elections by a very slender margin and he was made an MLC by the party. He also made sure that he was seen and worked a lot, this was an advantage for the Congress and also BJP should have given a ticket to somebody from Udasi's family which they didn't and this didn't go down well with the voters who chose congress," former journalist Prajwal Prasadh told The Quint.
CM Bommai said that he party was not able to win the support of the people who had voted in favour of late CM Udasi.
A Lesson for the BJP?
Speaking to The Quint, Professor Chambi Puranik, a political analyst said, “It is a lesson for BJP not to take voters for granted, despite the top government leaders led by CM, managed the campaign, with all their might and strategies, they have lost the seat held by popular leader late CM Udasi?”
He also said that it is an opportunity for Congress to gain sympathy in this constituency which it had earlier conceded to the BJP with a narrow margin. “It is the people who have shown that they are not satisfied by the slow pace of work in this constituency,” Puranik said.
Meanwhile, the Congress celebrated the win, as former CM and Congress leader Siddaramaiah said, "People are fed up with the bad administration of the BJP government in the State.”
“Despite Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and more than a dozen ministers camping in Hangal for over a week, the Congress emerged victorious.”
While the BJP remained optimistic about the win in Sidgi, Congress claimed that its vote share has increased in the constituency.
Talking about the Sindgi constituency, KPCC president DK Shivakumar said that the Congress improved its vote share despite losing to the ruling BJP.
“Despite our loss, we are satisfied with the improvement in vote share,” he said.
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