Karnataka: Congress retains two assembly seats in April 9 bypoll

Bengaluru: The Congress win in the assembly seats of Davanagere South and Bagalkot in the April 9 bypoll has come as a big relief for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The party fielded the family members of the sitting MLAs whose deaths caused the byelection.

There were concerns that the Congress would lose Davanagere South over the anger of Muslims, who are dominant in the constituency. But Samarth Shamnur (27) won by a margin of 5700 plus votes in a contest where he faced off 14 Muslim candidates including one from the SDPI.

The Muslims were upset that the Congress had denied them the ticket despite being the dominant community in the constituency.


In Bagalkot, Umesh Meti, the younger son of the former minister HY Meti, won by about 21,800 votes. Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar were concerned as the Congress had been torn apart by factions in Davanagere South and Bagalkot.

“This mandate reflects both the achievements of our government and the enduring strength of the Congress party’s ideology,” Siddaramaiah said in a statement. “Despite misinformation campaigns and the influence of money power, voters in both constituencies reaffirmed their trust in the Congress and our governance. We are committed to honouring this trust across the state and remain confident of continued public support in the upcoming Assembly election,” he added.