Janata Dal (Secular) leader Madhu Bangarappa has said though he tasted defeat in the byelection to the Lok Sabha from Shivamogga constituency, he was glad that he could confine Bharatiya Janata Party State president B.S. Yeddyurappa to his home district by posing a stiff competition and thereby ensuring the victory of JD(S)–Congress consensus candidates in other seats.

“Mr. Yeddyurappa was under the impression that his son B.Y. Raghavendra, who was the BJP candidate, would have a walkover in Shivamogga. However, when election campaign meetings by leaders of the coalition government partners evoked good response, Mr. Yeddyurappa feared his son’s defeat and remained confined to Shivamogga. Mr. Yeddyurappa could not dedicate much time for campaigning in Ballari and Mandya parliamentary seats and Ramanagaram and Jamkhandi Assembly seats, resulting in the victory of the consensus candidates there by huge margins,” Mr. Bangarappa said at a meeting held here on Sunday to thank the voters.

Mr. Bangarappa said BJP leaders were perturbed over the decline in the margin of victory in the byelection in Shivamogga.

Observing that he faced paucity of time for campaigning, he said that in the general elections, the coalition was sure to wrest Shivamogga from the BJP.