BENGALURU: The
Congress won the
Jayanagar Assembly constituency by 2889 votes.
According to poll officials, Congress candidate Sowmya Reddy was polled 53,411 votes, while BJP's B N Prahlad had secured 49,526 votes.
“I was a winner from Jayanagar four times previously and had shifted from the adjoining constituency to BTM Layout, as it includes my home area. Had I contested from the same constituency the previous two times, would have won from there. This time the party high command had given an opportunity to my daughter, I thank them. I had expected the victory margin to be a lot higher but I am not disappointed. It is a victory.”— Ramalinga Reddy, father of Congress candidate Soumya Reddy and sitting MLA from BTM Layout.
Fifty-five per cent polling was recorded in the Jayangar Assembly constituency on June 11.
The assembly elections were held across the state on May 12, but poll in Jayanagar was countermanded following the death of BJP candidate B N Vijayakumar, who was holding the seat.
BJP's B N Prahlad, brother of Vijaykumar, and senior Congress leader and former minister Ramalinga Reddy's daughter Sowmya Reddy are locked in a direct contest for the seat.
In all, nineteen candidates are in the fray.
Ahead of the polls, Janata Dal(S) had on June 5 pulled out its candidate from the contest and extended the party's support to its ruling coalition partner, the Congress.
This was the first election after coming to power, where both coalition partners had joined hands.
Both Congress and JD(S) had fielded candidates against each other, despite being coalition partners, in the recent election to the Rajarajeshwari Nagar Assembly seat in the city.
Congress candidate Munirathna had won the seat, relegating the JD(S) candidate to a distant third behind BJP.
Congress workers celebrating