Though BJP’s candidate L Chandrashekar withdrew from the race in Ramanagara, the candidate has interestingly secured 6,081 votes.
Chandrashekar, son of incumbent Congress MLC C M Lingappa, had joined the BJP ahead of the by-polls. He has rejoined Congress and has vouched support to the coalition candidate and wife of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Anitha Kumaraswamy.
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Anitha has secured 34,216 votes and is leading by 28,135 votes. Anitha’s victory in the Assembly constituency was guaranteed after Chandrashekar’s departure from the electoral battle. Her party workers, gathered in large numbers in front of the counting centre, are already in a celebratory mood.
Crosses 1 lakh mark in Mandya
For the second time in the last decade, the BJP has breached the 1 lakh mark in the Vokkaliga heartland, Mandya. Though the saffron party lacks base here, its candidate Siddaramaiah has secured around 1,20,000 votes.
His contender, L R Shivaramegowda (JD-S) is leading by 1,60,000 votes. Interestingly, Shivaramegowda was the first BJP candidate to secure more than 1 lakh votes in Mandya. In 2009, as a BJP candidate, Shivaramegowda had secured 1,44,875 votes. He had, however, come third in the elections then.
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