It was a slow-motion heartbreak for Congress’ D K Suresh as EVMs opened on Tuesday to count votes in Bangalore Rural.
BJP’s Dr C N Manjunath, a noted cardiologist, defeated Suresh, the three-time MP, by a huge margin of 2.69 lakh votes.
“I thank all voters. People have shown how powerful they are. Workers of both BJP and JD(S) worked with unity. Even national and state leaders were determined,” Dr Manjunath, who is JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda’s son-in-law, said.
In 2019, Suresh had braved the Modi wave to emerge as the sole Congress MP in Karnataka. Dr Manjunath was the BJP’s best shot to win Bangalore Rural, a seat that the saffron party had neglected and the JD(S) had passed over.
Dr Manjunath’s victory margin was so wide that Suresh’s brother, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, could not believe it. Shivakumar had taken his brother’s election personally, linking it to his own chief ministerial ambition.
“I didn’t expect to lose by such a big margin,” Shivakumar said. In his own Kanakapura Assembly segment, Shivakumar had expected a lead of 50,000-60,000 votes for Suresh. “But we got only 24,000-27,000,” he said. Shivakumar said he knew that “anti-Congress” votes would unite against his brother. “We’ve learnt a lesson,” he admitted. “I congratulate Dr Manjunath. It was his win, not his party’s. A lot of calculation went into his candidature,” Shivakumar said. Suresh thanked his constituents for giving him three terms. “This time, they decided to give me a rest.”
According to Raja Rajeshwarinagar BJP MLA Munirathna, Dr Manjunath got a lead of one lakh votes in his Assembly constituency.
Status quo in Bengaluru
The BJP managed to retain all three seats in Bengaluru - Bangalore North, Bangalore Central and Bangalore South.
In Bangalore North, BJP’s Shobha Karandlaje (who shifted from Udupi-Chickmagalur) won by 2.59 lakh votes against Congress’ MV Rajeev Gowda. In Bangalore South, BJP’s Tejasvi Surya defeated Congress’ Sowmya Reddy by 2.77 lakh votes for his second term.
Bangalore Central was a disappointment for Congress, whose candidate Mansoor Ali Khan came close to defeating BJP’s P C Mohan, who will now enter his fourth term. Khan lost to Mohan by 32,707 votes.