Bypolls in Karnataka: Kundagol records 73%, Chincholi 64.4% voter turnout

BENGALURU: The bypolls were by and large peaceful except for some stray incidents. In Chincholi, BJP’s MP candidate Dr Umesh Jadhav briefly staged a dharna accusing Congress leaders of attempting to bribe voters to vote in the party’s favour.

In Chincholi, the bypolls were caused due to Dr.Jadhav’s resignation as the Congress MLA following his differences with senior Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge. Avinash Jadhav, son of Dr.Jadhav contested on a BJP ticket against Congress candidate Subhash Rathod.

The Congress leaders had worked overtime in these bypolls to retain the two seats in their kitty as any setback can potentially wreck the JD(S)-Congress coalition regime’s balance. Revenue Minister R.V.Deshpande and KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre lead the party teams in Kundagol and Chincholi, respectively.


The Kundagol seat faced bypolls due to the death of municipal administration minister C.S.Shivalli. His wife Kusumavathi contested on the Congress ticket against BJP’s Chikkana Goudar, who had lost the Assembly elections last year by about 600 votes.