Ruling BJP leads in two Karnataka Assembly bypolls (Ld)

Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka was leading in two Assembly seats of Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Sira in Tumkuru on Tuesday after eight and five rounds of counting respectively.

In RR Nagar, BJP`s N Munirathna was leading by nearly 22,000 votes over his nearest rival H Kusuma of the Congress at the end of eighth round.

In both seats the JD(S) seems to be ending distant third, where Vokkaligas have large presence and this community is the biggest support base of the JD-S for years.

In RR Nagar, the Congress has fielded a fresh face - Kusuma H, widow of late IAS officer DK Ravi. She is pitted against V Krishnamurthy of Janata Dal-Secular and Munirathna, who after his disqualification last year had joined the BJP.

BJP has never won the Sira seat but fielded radiologist CM Rajesh Gowda, son of former Congress MP CP Mudalagiriyappa, who had recently joined the party, while the Congress and JD-S, considered traditional rivals in the region, nominated former Minister TB Jayachandra and Ammajamma (widow of late MLA B Sathyanarayana) respectively.

Jayachandra on Monday night said he along with his wife have tested positive for Covid-19 and have been hospitalised.

BJP victory in Sira would be a big blow to the JD-S as it would be the second Assembly seat where the BJP would succeed in breaching the Vokkaliga stronghold. Earlier, under Vijayendra Yeddyurappa`s leadership, the BJP had wrested KR Pet seat in Mandya district from JD-S.

In November 3 bypolls, Sira and RR Nagar recorded voter turnout of 82.31 per cent and 45.24 per cent respectively.

The results will have no bearing on the stability of the BS Yediyurappa government.

The story has been taken from a news agency