Karnataka posted some interesting results and saw some major upsets in seats that were considered bastions or bastions of the Congress, which the BJP breached. There are seats where the BJP took some calculated risks and won, stating the party’s strategy to present a new face and also award tickets only to candidates who can win. The Congress, on the other hand, has given tickets to the dynasty and may even contest them in some seats, analysts observed.
Bengaluru Rural
This was the biggest upset for the Congress. The seat which saw a high-voltage contest between three-time Congress MP DK Suresh and NDA’s surprise first-time candidate Dr CN Manjunath saw the Congress stronghold breached. The BJP took a big gamble by fielding Dr Manjunath, a popular cardiologist, and the leader won by a huge margin.
“I am thankful to the people of Bengaluru Rural who believed in me. I think people want to see Narendra Modi as PM and give a good decision because they are impressed by my work as a doctor,” said Dr Manjunath on his victory.
DK Suresh has courted controversy by asserting that the central government is still ignoring the region’s share of funds, the only way is to seek a separate southern entity. Standing by his words, Suresh said that while he never sought a separate state, he wanted to highlight that the Prime Minister’s priority seems to be focused only on the progress of north India.
Central Bangalore
This is another contested seat between MP PC Mohan, three-time BJP vice-president and Congress’s Mansoor Ali Khan who contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Bengaluru North constituency. Mansoor, who was leading by more than 50,000 votes till the last two rounds of counting, lost the election to Mohan who suddenly got a lead of more than 52,000 votes when the ballots from Mahadevapura and CV Raman Nagar were opened.
All the news outlets who declared Mansoor as the winner of the first bastion BJP suddenly had to change their stand and declare BJP as the winner, is a complete story like any other movie thriller.
Hassan
This seat has been the most controversial and the maximum media focus since the election was held on April 26. leaking type cassette, missing seat.
Prajwal, who had been on the run for more than a month after the video was leaked, returned to India on May 31 after a blue corner notice and arrest warrant were issued against him. JDS has suspended him.
While many in Hassan said that pen drives containing videos of women allegedly being sexually assaulted were distributed just days before the seat went to polls, the main factor was also the anti-incumbency that Prajwal faced that led to his defeat.
Uttara Kannada
This coastal Karnataka seat is another experiment of the BJP – will the Modi factor suit this seat or the stronger Ananth Kumar Hegde factor. BJP got an answer by winning this. Six-time MP Ananth Kumar Hegde, who has put the BJP in an embarrassing position several times, has been denied a ticket by the party from this seat.
The BJP fielded Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, a non-controversial party loyalist and former Karnataka Assembly Speaker who lost the Assembly elections. Kageri had contested from Sirsi seat and lost to Bhimanna Naik of Congress.
Kageri contested against another former MLA from Belgaum’s Khanapur Anjali Nimbalkar and won.
Belgaum
This seat is seeing a tough fight between Congress and BJP. Congress candidate Mrunal Hebbalkar is the son of Karnataka minister Laxmi Hebbalkar and is contesting for the first time. He is facing former chief minister and four-time MLA Jagdish Shettar who replaces Mangala Suresh Angadi, wife of former Railway Minister Suresh Angadi, who died in the interim. Mangala Angadi has won the poll.
Shettar had left the party in May 2023 after being asked to step aside. He jumped to the Congress giving him a ticket from the seat, but Shettar lost the election. He did ‘ghar vapsi’ after 10 months after securing Lok Sabha ticket.
Shettar is worried about contesting from Belagavi as he does not belong to the Panchamsali sect, the main sect of Lingayats, in the Belgavi Lok Sabha constituency. However, veteran BJP leader BS Yediyurappa convinced him not to reject the Belagavi nomination. Posters of ‘Go Back Shettar’ appeared around Belgavi, but it clearly had no effect.
Chikkaballapur
Dr K Sudhakar, a former minister in the Bommai government, is the NDA candidate from this seat. After losing the Assembly seat, Sudhakar who sought the BJP ticket was given one on the condition that the election would be done in full on the efforts put in and the leader did not expect any additional encouragement or support from the party. Sudhakar is pitted against Raksha Ramaiah of the Congress, a new face but also a former NSUI state president.
What works for him is the Modi factor, say analysts. This seat is a perfect example of how people vote differently in Assembly and parliamentary polls.
Sudhakar is one of the 17 MLAs from the Congress and JDS who switched allegiance from the Congress to the BJP in 2019. He attributed his electoral defeat in the Assembly elections to what he called a “last-minute political conspiracy” allegedly hatched by the Congress. and JDS.
Chikkodi
This constituency, once a Congress stronghold, has become a battleground for high-stakes politics, featuring an important contest between two influential families – Jarkiholis and Jolles. Priyanka, daughter of senior Congress leader and Public Works (PWD) Minister Satish Jarkiholi, is contesting against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Annasaheb Jolle. Priyanka won this seat for the Congress, which had been losing to the BJP since 2004.
Seasoned BJP incumbent Jolle secured the ticket for a second term, largely depending on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Jolle won by 1.17 lakh votes against Prakash Hukkeri of Congress.
Gulbarga
Radhakrishna Doddamani, son-in-law of Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge, won this seat, continuing Kharge’s legacy after the AICC chief lost to BJP’s Umesh G Jadhav. The Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka has been a stronghold for the Congress party since its establishment before India’s first general election in 1951.
Despite its historical dominance, the Congress has faced significant challenges from emerging rivals. The BJP successfully disrupted this long-standing hegemony with victories in 1998 and 2019. This constituency has witnessed many political changes over the years. Of the 17 elections held, the Congress won 14 times, with many saying that the stronghold could be breached again by the BJP. But it did not happen, creating another upset for the BJP.
Bellary
The political battle in Bellary was quite musical, with both candidates, B Sriramulu of the BJP and E Tukaram of the Congress, using upbeat songs to highlight their achievements. Sriramulu’s song, titled ‘Ballari manninenda eddubanda Anna Sriramulu’, highlights his achievements as health and transport minister.
A supporter of Tukaram, drawing inspiration from popular Kannada films like KGFcomposed a song that resonated with the voters and showcased Tukaram’s pro-people initiatives.
Clearly, the Congress anthem seems to be working with Tukaram to win the seat. In the 2019 Assembly elections, BJP’s Y Devendrappa won, securing 6,16,388 votes against Congress’s VS Ugrappa. Bellary has historically been a stronghold of the Congress party, but the BJP has risen to prominence in recent years, winning consecutively since 2004.
Another major factor that seems to have an impact on this seat is Janardhan Reddy, the mining baron who launched his own party, Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha, in the Assembly elections but returned to the BJP. His influence was able to reach Sriramulu, but he was not able to work.
Bidar
This seat sees one of the youngest candidates in Karnataka, Sagar Khandre, contesting. The 26-year-old, who is the son of Karnataka minister Eshwar Khandre and a third-generation politician contesting the election for the first time, won the seat. He is fighting against BJP candidate Bhagwant Khuba, a seasoned politician and Union Minister of State for Fertilizers and Chemicals. Khuba, a two-time MP, has created a rebellion in the BJP. He was denied tickets, because the party was looking at pitting fresh faces other than seats. Khuba had defeated Sagar’s father Khandre in 209 by a margin of 1,16,834 votes, but this time he clearly faced anti-incumbency and opposition from a section of the BJP leadership over his candidature. The Congress winning this seat may come as a surprise to many, but Congress insiders say the heartbeat for the people against Khuba has been well wrapped up by the father-son duo.
