Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 13 : Several leaders defected from their respective parties ahead of the Karnataka Assembly polls over 'ticket denial' and jumped to the other side on the perception of a big win. However, some faced defeat while others turned the tide in their favour.
Among the prominent turncoats are Bharatiya Janata Party's six-time MLA Jagadish Shettar, former Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi and HD Thammaiah who after being declined tickets by the party joined Congress while BJP's MLA MP Kumaraswamy after leaving BJP joined JD(S).
Though Congress made major gains, Shettar lost to BJP's Mahesh Tenginkai in the Hubli-Dharwad-Central constituency, by a margin of 34,289 votes, as per the latest reports.
Meanwhile, HD Thammaiah won against BJP's national general secretary CT Ravi by 5926 votes in the Chikmagalur constituency. Thammaiah was one of Ravi's close aides before he joined Congress.
Laxman Savadi defeated BJP's Mahesh Kumathalli by a margin of 76,122 votes in the Ath seat. Mahesh Kumathalli was one of the Congress MLAs who crossed over to the BJP and resulting in the fall of the Congress-JDS government in 2019.
However, as per the latest trends, MP Kumaraswamy lost to Congress' Nayana Motamma in Mudigere Assembly Constituency. Nayana Motamma won by 722 votes to BJP's Deepak Doddaiah.
According to the latest trends of the Election Commission of India, Congress has won 126 seats and is leading in 10 more seats. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 60 seats and is leading on five others.
Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) has won 19 seats. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha have won one seat each.
The Congress maintained a lead from the morning when counting began for the assembly seats in the fiercely contested election.
Congress general secretary in-charge, Communications Jairam Ramesh said the result is a direct impact of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka, the intangible impact was unifying the party, revitalizing the cadre and shaping the narrative for the Karnataka elections.
"While this is the direct impact of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka, the intangible impact was uniting the party, reviving the cadre and shaping the narrative for the Karnataka elections. It was during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, from the many conversations Rahul Gandhi had with the people of Karnataka, that the guarantees and the promises in our mfesto were discussed and finalised," tweeted Jairam Ramesh.
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