Karnataka By-Poll Results: BJP wins Belagavi, Basavakalyan; Congress takes Maski

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, May 2, 2021: As the votes of the recenly held bypolls to three seats in Karnataka, including a Lok Sabha segment, were counted on Sunday, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won two constituencies while the Opposition Congress emerged victorious in one.

Of the three, the by-election at Belgaum (Belagavi) Lok Sabha constituency was the lone contest that went down the wire. BJP candidate Mangala Suresh Angadi won by a thin margin of 2,903 votes against Congress candidate Satish Jarkiholi who gave her a tough fight till the last few rounds of counting. However, the final margin is yet to be declared by the Election Commission (EC). It can be recalled that Mangala’s late husband and former Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi had won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the same segment by a margin of over 3.91 lakh votes.

 

However, the Congress did not wait for the final figures approved by EC to admit defeat. “In Belagavi LS, we lost by just 2900 (margin was 3.9 lakhs in 2019). I thank the people of Karnataka who have voted for us in large numbers & we pledge to keep raising people’s voice against BJP Govt,” Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar tweeted.

Meanwhile, BJP candidate Sharanu Salagar won from Basavakalyan in Bidar district, while Congress’s Basanagouda Turvihal emerged victorious from Maski in Raichur district. Salagar, who was pitted against Mala B Narayan Rao — wife of former MLA late Narayana Rao — had secured a clear lead right from the first round of counting. While his lead at 11.30 am was by 7,355 votes, it grew steadily to clinch him a win by a margin of 20,904.