Bengaluru: Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and the BJP have scored a massive victory in 12 out of the 15 Assembly constituencies that went into by-polls on Monday, December 9 and the Congress stands routed in the state. After winning only two of the seats, much below their estimations, Congress leader Siddaramaiah has resigned from his post as Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, while Dinesh Gundu Rao stepped down as KPCC president.
Addressing the press on Monday, after the by-poll results were announced, Siddaramaiah said that the Congress has accepted the people’s verdict and announced his resignation as Leader of the Opposition as they did not achieve the desired number of seats in the by-polls. He informed that he has submitted his resignation to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. His resignation is yet to be accepted by the party high command.
Addressing a press conference Dinesh Gundu Rao said: “We were expecting people will punish those who have gone against the Constitution. This kind of mandate should be discouraged as it’s giving wrong precedence. We fought a good election but ultimately have to bow our head to democracy.” He said that he will be meeting Sonia Gandhi to discuss about the recent bypolls in Karnataka.
It can be recalled that the BJP needed only six seats to remain in power in the state. The Congress managed to win only two seats, while the JD(S) could not win even one seat.
As it stands, the BJP has 117, Congress 68, JD(S) 34 and Others 3 seats in the state Assembly.
There are rumours that one independent candidate Sharath Bacchegowda, who won in the by-polls, will join the saffron brigade, the party to which his father BN Bachegowda belongs. The dismal performance of the JD(S) and Congress has shattered their plans of regaining power by joining hands after the by-polls.
The Karnataka by-polls were held to fill the vacancies caused by the disqualification of 17 rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs, who revolted and led to the fall of the Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July.
