Karnataka Assembly Election: BJP receives big jolt in its stronghold Kodagu

In a major upset to the BJP, the Congress candidates are leading against sitting BJP MLAs in Kodagu district, which is considered as a BJP stronghold. The trend shows that the Congress candidate AS Ponnanna is in lead against BJP's KG Bopaiah in Virajpet Assembly segment. MLA Appachu Ranjan, a Kodava community leader who was eyeing his fourth win, meanwhile, received a jolt from Congress candidate Dr Mantar Gowda who is son of former minister A Manju.  If Ponnanna manages to win, he will break a 24 year old jinx. Last time the Congress candidate won in Virajpet was in 1999 (Suma Vasanth). It would be the same with the Madikeri Assembly segment as the last time Congress won here was in 1999 (M Nanaiah).  Earlier in the day, Bommai conceded defeat and said the BJP had not been able to make a mark. “We have not been able to make the mark. The Congress has done it successfully… Once the results come we will do a detailed analysis. As a national party, we will not only analyse but also see what deficiencies and gaps were left at various levels. We take this result in our stride," the sitting chief minister of Karnataka said.In the previous Karnataka Assembly polls in 2018 election, BJP had emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats but had fallen short of the majority mark of 113. The Congress had won 80 while the JD(S) had secured win on 37.Speaking for the first time since the resounding performance of the Congress in Karnataka, senior leader Rahul Gandhi, while thanking the people of the state, said: “We fought with love and the people of Karnataka showed the country that it despises the politics of hate. I thank and congratulate the Congress party workers and leaders of the state. The strength of the poor people of Karnataka have defeated the crony capitalists.” Congress’s success has been largely due to focus on local issues and avoiding getting entangled in Hindutva rhetoric.