Congress has emerged victorious in most constituencies in North Karnataka, except for Bijapur and Bagalkot, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Despite this regional success, the party lost to the BJP at an overall level in Karnataka.
The BJP, in coalition with JD(S), secured 17 seats across the state, while Congress won a total of nine seats. This marks a significant turnaround for Congress, which had only won one seat in 2019.
Regions such as Bijapur, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Bellary, Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bidar, Koppal, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere, and Shivamogga are all part of North Karnataka. In Kalaburagi, Congress’ Radhakrishna Doddamani defeated BJP’s Umesh G Jadhav. Doddamani, who is AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge’s son-in-law, benefited from Kharge’s vigorous campaigning after his own defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Kharge’s efforts in Kalaburagi paid off as Doddamani won by a margin of 27,205 votes. However, in other key contests, BJP maintained dominance. In Shimoga, BY Raghavendra from BJP defeated Congress’ Geetha Shivarajkumar by over 2.4 lakh votes. In Uttara Kannada, BJP’s Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri won by a margin of over 3.3 lakh votes. Additionally, former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai secured a victory in Haveri with over 43,000 votes.
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