Karnataka Bypoll: Congress Leads In 2 Seats, BJP In One

BANGALORE: In a major relief to Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, who is facing dissension within the party, the ruling Congress is all set to win two of the three assembly byelections by establishing a huge lead against rival BJP candidates for which counting is on.

Byelections were held to Bellary Rural, Shikaripur in Shimoga and Chikkodi-Sadalga in Belgaum districts on August 21. Congress candidate N Y Gopalakrishna was ahead with 25,736 votes in the 12th round of counting over his BJP rival Obalesh in Bellary Rural, while the Congress is set to retain Chikkodi-Sadalga and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa once again establishing his hold over Shikaripur with his son B Y Raghavendra leading in all rounds. The vacancies were caused by sitting MLAs B Sriramulu (Bellary Rural), Yeddyurappa (Shikaripur) and former minister Prakash B Hukkeri (Chikkodi-Saldalga) getting elected to the Lok Sabha.

Among the three constituencies, Siddaramaiah had taken Bellary Rural seriously and deputed energy minister D K Shivakumar to oversee the campaigning there. Aware that Shikaripur constituency was a difficult challenge to take on as Yeddyurappa has made it an impregnable fortress over the years, the Congress concentrated all its resources and mind share in Bellary Rural with Chikkodi-Sadalga seen as a cakewalk for the party.

The victories in Bellary Rural and Chikkodi-Sadalga are expected to give an upper hand to Siddaramaiah, who is scheduled to expand his cabinet by filling four vacancies, besides getting his men to head the boards and corporations to be reconstituted in the next couple of days. The CM is under pressure from senior Congressmen seeking a berth in the cabinet along with KPCC president G Parameshwara eyeing the deputy CM's post.

Bellary has political significance for the state Congress as AICC president Sonia Gandhi won the Bellary Lok Sabha seat in 1999, which she gave up to retain Rai Bareli. The district had been the Congress stronghold until 2004, when the Reddy brothers gained control of it.

Victory in Bellary Rural, one of the eight assembly constituencies in the district, is no small gain for the Congress, which is a divided house here. In this faction-ridden district unit, Shivakumar known for his organizing capabilities was put in charge to wrest the seat.

BJP had been banking on Sriramulu to retain the seat and had also given in to his wish to field close aide and former government employee Obalesh. His sister J Shantha had decided not to recontest the Bellary Lok Sabha seat and and was hoping to bag the Bellary Rural ticket. The JD(S) did not field any candidate in these bypolls, instead it chose to support the Congress in Shikaripur and Bellary Rural.