Congress wins Karnataka bypolls

The Congress registered thumping wins in Lok Sabha bypolls in Bangalore (Rural) and Mandya, both JD (S) strongholds, giving the party and the four-month-old Siddaramaiah government a big boost in the run-up to the parliamentary polls.
Both the winners- Kannada actress Ramya (Mandya) and D K Suresh (Bangalore Rural), brother of Congress legislator D K Shivakumar – are political greenhorns. Suresh trounced Karnataka JD(S) president and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy’s wife Anitha by 1,37,008 votes while Ramya defeated C S Puttaraju of the JD (S) by a margin of 67,610 votes.
The shock defeat of his wife prompted Kumaraswamy to offer to resign as state party chief and Leader of the Opposition. Virtually breaking down before the reporters, the former CM said, “Perhaps voters wanted me to take some rest.’’
The bypolls were crucial to both Congress and JD(S). For the first time, opposition parties dropped their ideological differences to fight the Congress and the results reflected that the majority of voters didn’t approve of the JD(S) teaming up with the BJP. The JD(S) had won both seats in the 2009 parliamentary elections. The seats fell vacant after Kumaraswamy (Bangalore-Rural) and N Cheluvarayaswamy (Mandya) were elected to the assembly in May.
The results came as a bigger blow to the Deve Gowda family, more so to the senior Deve Gowda. The 81-year-old former Prime Minister got emotional at almost every meeting while seeking votes for his daughter-in-law. It was also a double whammy for Anitha, a reluctant politician, who had still not recovered from the shock of her defeat in Channapatna assembly election
Ramya, 30, who was a surprise candidate, brought feuding Congress leaders in Mandya together at least for the bypoll. Former chief minister S M Krishna and housing minister M H Ambareesh, who don’t see eye to eye, campaigned for Ramya from different platforms.
A relieved Siddaramaiah, who had a bitter verbal duel with the Deve Gowda family during the campaign said: “There was unity in the Congress which is why the party won both seats.’’
After his brother’s victory in Bangalore (Rural), Shiva Kumar - a second-rung Vokkaliga leader – has emerged as a strong contender for a ministerial berth. He was kept out of the cabinet in view of cases of his alleged involvement in illegal mining. Siddaramaiah is under tremendous pressure to fill the four vacancies in his ministry.