Karnataka assembly by-polls Monday, prestige of 3 parties at stake
September 12th, 2010 - 6:24 pm ICT by IANS
Bangalore, Sep 12 (IANS) Voting will take place Monday for two assembly seats in Karnataka, the outcome of which will impact the prestige and morale of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S).
Over 350,000 people are eligible to vote in by-polls in Kadur in Chikmagalur district and Gulbarga South in Gulbarga district.
There are 11 candidates for the 210,000 voters in Gulbarga South to choose from, though the fight is among nominees of the three parties. The remaining eight are Independents.
Kadur has only three candidates - one each from the BJP, Congress and JD-S, and an electorate of 177,000.
Counting will take place on Sep 16.
The by-polls have been necessitated following the death of sitting members K.M. Krishnamurthy (Congress-Kadur) and Chandrashekar Patil Revoor (BJP-Gulbarga South).
Winning Gulbarga South is of great importance to the Congress, which has fielded Ajay Singh, son of former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh.
Dharam Singh and union Labour Minister Mallikharjun Kharge are considered heavyweights of the district. The Congress had also roped in union Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed to campaign for Ajay Singh.
The Congress has been faring poorly in the several by-polls held after the 2008 assembly elections which brought the BJP to power for the first time in Karnataka and in south India.
A victory for the JD-S in Gulbarga South will give a boost to its morale as the party has little presence in north Karnataka.
The party, hoping for sympathy votes, has nominated Revoor’s widow Aruna Patil, who has accused the BJP of going back on its promise to nominate her or her son following her husband’s death.
BJP nominee Sushil Namoshi is a senior party leader and a member of the legislative council.
In Kadur, the Congress has fielded Krishnamurthy’s brother K.M. Kemparaju, while the JD-S and the BJP have renominated the candidates who had lost in the 2008 assembly polls.
The JD-S candidate is party spokesperson and legislative council member Y.S.V. Datta and the BJP nominee is Y.C. Vishwanath, a medical practitioner in the area.
The nearly two-week campaign was dominated by the illegal mining issue with the three parties blaming each other for encouraging it.
- Over 50 percent polling in Karnataka by-polls (Lead) - Sep 13, 2010
- Voting in Karnataka by-polls gets under way - Sep 13, 2010
- BJP, JD-S win Karnataka bypolls, Congress loses again (Lead) - Sep 16, 2010
- BJP, JD-S win Karnataka bypolls, Congress loses again - Sep 16, 2010
- BJP, JD-S win Karnataka bypolls, Congress comes third (Second Lead, superseding earlier story) - Sep 16, 2010
- Karnataka by-polls: Siddaramaiah quits as opposition leader - Sep 16, 2010
- BJP accuses Salman Khurshid of poll code violation - Sep 10, 2010
- BJP to fight once-favourite Reddy brothers in Bellary - Nov 11, 2011
- Karnataka assembly bypolls Saturday - Apr 08, 2011
- Around 60 percent votes cast in Karnataka bypolls - Apr 09, 2011
- BJP wins all three Karnataka assembly bypolls (Lead) - May 13, 2011
- Yeddyurappa's future could rest on three by-polls (Letter From Bangalore) - May 12, 2011
- BJP attacked for 'luring' opposition law makers in Karnataka - Mar 04, 2011
- BJP set to win Karnataka assembly bypolls - May 13, 2011
- BJP tells Karnataka governor to stop dabbling in politics - Sep 18, 2010
Tags: affairs minister, aruna, assembly elections, assembly seats, bjp, chandrashekar, chief minister, chikmagalur, dharam singh, gulbarga, heavyweights, kadur, krishnamurthy, labour minister, legislative council, minority affairs, north karnataka, opposition congress, south india, sympathy votes
