Athani is one of the eight Assembly seats under Chikkodi Lok Sabha constituency. Athani is one of the eight Assembly seats under Chikkodi Lok Sabha constituency. Athani is one of the eight Assembly seats under Chikkodi Lok Sabha constituency. Karnataka Elections 2023 Athani constituency: One of the keenly watched constituencies this elections is Athani, which falls under Belgaum district. It is one of the eight Assembly seats under Chikkodi Lok Sabha constituency. As per early trends, Laxman Savadi, who recently joined Congress from BJP, is leading in Athani. He is fighting against BJP's Mahesh Kumathalli.
Live Updates at 10.30 AM: The Karnataka election result is crucial as it is seen as the semi final before the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. The Congress has made big gains in areas dominated by Lingayats - a section that has traditionally been voting for the BJP. Lingayats, among the two prominent communities, are dominant in 69 seats. Of these, Congress is ahead on 43 seats.
Congress is on alert mode to avert any attempt of Operation Lotus in Karnataka. The grand old party is currently leading on 115 seats, just two more than the majority mark. BJP is ahead on 79 seats while JDS is ahead on 25 seats and others are ahead on 5.
Read here for more: Karnataka Election Result 2023 LIVE
Karnataka Congress Chief D K Shivakumar is leading in Kanakapura by about 6,000 votes against BJP leader and Minister R Ashoka.
Athani constituency: Currently, BJP leader Mahesh Iranagoud Kumathalli represents the constituency in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He won the seat in the 2019 by-election after switching parties to the BJP after winning the seat in 2018 on a Congress ticket.
Kumathalli defeated Congress leader Gajanan Bhalachandra Mangasuli who received 59,214 votes. Kumathalli garnered over 99,000 votes in the by-poll.
This year, the contest is mainly between Congress candidate and former Deputy CM Laxman Savadi and incumbent MLA and BJP candidate Kumathalli. While BJP is trying to retain the seat, Congress is determined to recapture the seats it lost in the previous election.
Kumathalli was one among the 17 MLAs who joined the BJP, which ultimately led to the collapse of HD Kumaraswamy-led JDS-Congress government in 2019. It was Savadi who facilitated Kumathalli’s defection.
While Kumathalli is confident about his victory as the large Lingayat vote bank in the constituency is loyal to the BJP. Savadi, who is also a prominent Lingayat leader, the contest is to test his popularity.
The assembly segment comprises around 2.20 lakh voters, of which around a lakh are Lingayats. There are also around 40,000 Marathas, 30,000 who belong to the scheduled castes and 28,000 are from the Muslim community. With both Savadi and Kumathalli belonging to the Lingayat community, it remains to be seen which way will the voters go.
Read here for more: Karnataka Election Result 2023 LIVE