Bypolls in Karnataka today; BJP backs JDS
Headlines 11:06
Bangalore, August 21: Bypolls to Mandya and Bangalore Lok Sabha Rural seats will be held on Wednesday with 36 lakh voters expected to exercise their franchise in 4,360 polling booths, at the end of a bitterly fought battle between the ruling Congress and JDS.
The polls will be Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s first test after assuming office.
In an interesting development, the BJP has extended support to JDS which was considered its political adversary for a long time.
The bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of N Cheluvarayaswamy (Mandya) and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy (Bangalore Rural) who quit after being elected to the Assembly in May this year.
JDS of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has fielded Kumaraswamy’s wife Anita from Bangalore Rural, and C S Puttaraju in Mandya.
Leading Kannada actor Ramya is the Congress candidate from Mandya, D K Suresh, brother of senior Congress leader and MLA D K Shivakumar from Bangalore Rural.
Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha said about sixty teams of surveillance and flying squads would be deployed for the byelections.
Polling will begin at 8 am and end at 5 pm, he informed. Jha said there would be a ban on exit poll on the date of poll.
The Gowda belt of Mandya is a stronghold of JDS, which won five of the eight Assembly seats in the district in the May elections.
In Bangalore Rural, where Kumaraswamy had won by 1.3 lakh votes in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has secured the support of Samajwadi Party MLA, C P Yogeeshwara, who reigned supreme in Channapa Assembly segment defeating Anita in May.
The polls will be Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s first test after assuming office.
In an interesting development, the BJP has extended support to JDS which was considered its political adversary for a long time.
The bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of N Cheluvarayaswamy (Mandya) and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy (Bangalore Rural) who quit after being elected to the Assembly in May this year.
JDS of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has fielded Kumaraswamy’s wife Anita from Bangalore Rural, and C S Puttaraju in Mandya.
Leading Kannada actor Ramya is the Congress candidate from Mandya, D K Suresh, brother of senior Congress leader and MLA D K Shivakumar from Bangalore Rural.
Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha said about sixty teams of surveillance and flying squads would be deployed for the byelections.
Polling will begin at 8 am and end at 5 pm, he informed. Jha said there would be a ban on exit poll on the date of poll.
The Gowda belt of Mandya is a stronghold of JDS, which won five of the eight Assembly seats in the district in the May elections.
In Bangalore Rural, where Kumaraswamy had won by 1.3 lakh votes in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has secured the support of Samajwadi Party MLA, C P Yogeeshwara, who reigned supreme in Channapa Assembly segment defeating Anita in May.
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