Bypoll verdict to decide fate of three political dynasties in Karnataka

Congress and alliance partners BJP-JD(S) have their fingers crossed ahead of the counting of votes for Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur bypoll, which may determine the political road ahead for the parties in Karnataka. 

The results will have no bearing whatsoever on the stability of the Congress government. But the fallout, depending on the outcome of the bypolls, will be politically significant. 

For Congress, winning more than one seat will provide a morale boost to face the BJP and JD(S) that have mounted attack after attack on the government. A poor performance will not augur well given that the ruling dispensation usually has an advantage in bypolls. 

A good result for the NDA will give BJP and JD(S) more opportunities to mobilise a negative public opinion about the Congress government. 

For the JD(S), the Channapatna result is crucial for Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s political succession. Having lost two elections on the trot, Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil must win to inherit his father’s political mantle. Nikhil was locked in a fierce fight with Congress’ C P Yogeshwar, who quit the BJP less than a month before the bypoll. 

Political inheritance is on the line at Shiggaon and Sandur as well. In Shiggaon, former BJP chief minister Basavaraj Bommai’s son Bharath went up against Congress’ Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan. At Sandur, where the BJP has never won, Bellary Congress MP E Tukaram’s wife Annapoorna fought against the saffron party’s Bangaru Hanumantu.