Karnataka threw up some interesting results and saw some major upsets in seats that were considered strongholds or fortresses of the Congress, which the BJP breached. There were seats where the BJP took some calculated risks and won, crediting the strategy of the party to field new faces and also give tickets only to winnable candidates. The Congress, on the other hand, had resorted to giving tickets to dynasts and that could have worked against them in some seats, analysts observe.
Bengaluru Rural
This was the biggest upset for the Congress. The seat that saw a high-voltage contest between three-time Congress MP DK Suresh and NDA’s surprise first-time candidate Dr CN Manjunath saw the Congress fortress being breached. The BJP played a big gamble by pitting Dr Manjunath, a popular cardiologist, and the leader won by a large margin of votes.
“I thank the people of Bengaluru Rural in trusting in me. I feel that the people wanted to see Narendra Modi as PM and gave me a favourable verdict as they were impressed by my work as a doctor,” said Dr Manjunath on his win.
DK Suresh had stirred controversy with his assertion that if the central government persists in neglecting the region’s share of funds, the only recourse may be to seek a separate southern entity. Standing by his words, Suresh said that while he never sought a separate country, he wanted to highlight that the Prime Minister’s priorities seem focused solely on the advancement of northern India.
Bengaluru Central
This was another hotly contested seat between three-time BJP incumbent MP PC Mohan and Congress’s Mansoor Ali Khan who had contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Bengaluru North constituency. Mansoor, who was in the lead by over 50,000 votes till the last two rounds of counting, lost the election to Mohan who suddenly got the lead with more 52,000 votes when the ballots of Mahadevapura and CV Raman Nagar were opened.
All news outlets that were declaring Mansoor as the winner of the once-BJP fortress suddenly had to change their stand and declare the BJP as the winner , a total twist to the tale just like another cinema thriller.
Hassan
This seat has been the most controversial and had maximum media focus ever since the election was conducted on April 26. The NDA candidate and JDS MP Prajwal Revanna, who has been accused of sexually abusing several women and is facing an SIT investigation into a series of leaked sex tapes, lost the seat.
Prajwal, who had been absconding for over a month after the video leaked, retuned to India on May 31 after a blue corner notice and arrest warrant was issued against him. The JDS has already suspended him.
While many in Hassan said that the pen drives containing the alleged videos of women being sexually assaulted were distributed just days before the seat went to polls, the major factor was also the anti-incumbency that Prajwal faced that led to his defeat.
Uttara Kannada
This coastal Karnataka seat was another experiment of the BJP – whether the Modi factor would work in their favour in this seat or was the Ananth Kumar Hegde factor more powerful. The BJP got its answer with this win. Six-time MP Ananth Kumar Hegde, who had put the BJP in an embarrassing position several times, had been denied a ticket by the party from this seat this time.
The BJP fielded Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, a non-controversial party loyalist and former Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly who lost in the Assembly elections. Kageri had contested from the Sirsi seat and lost to Bhimanna Naik of the Congress.
Kageri contested against another former MLA from Belgaum’s Khanapur Anjali Nimbalkar and won.
Belgaum
This seat saw a tough battle between the Congress and the BJP. Congress candidate Mrunal Hebbalkar is the son of Karnataka minister Laxmi Hebbalkar and contested for the first time. He faced former chief minister and four-time MLA Jagdish Shettar who replaced Mangala Suresh Angadi, wife of former Union Railway Minister Suresh Angadi, who passed away mid-term. Mangala Angadi had won the bypoll.
Shettar had left the party in May 2023 after he was asked to step aside. He jumped to the Congress which gave him a ticket from the seat, but Shettar lost the election. He did a ‘ghar vapsi’ after 10 months after being assured a Lok Sabha ticket.
Shettar was apprehensive about contesting from Belagavi because he does not belong to the Panchamsali sect, a predominant sect of the Lingayats, in the Belgavi Lok Sabha constituency. However, veteran BJP leader BS Yediyurappa convinced him not to refuse the Belagavi nomination. Posters of ‘Go Back Shettar’ surfaced around Belgavi, but clearly did not have an impact.
Chikkaballapur
Dr K Sudhakar, a former minister in the Bommai government, was the NDA candidate from this seat. Having lost the Assembly seat, Sudhakar who sought the BJP ticket was given one on the condition that the election would be fought completely on the efforts put in by him and the leader should not expect an extra push or support from the party. Sudhakar contested against Congress’s Raksha Ramaiah, a fresh face but also a former state president of the NSUI.
What worked in his favour was the Modi factor, say analysts. This seat was the perfect example of how people vote differently in Assembly and parliamentary polls.
Sudhakar was among the 17 MLAs from the Congress and JDS who shifted allegiance from the Congress to the BJP in 2019. He had attributed his electoral defeat in the Assembly elections to what he called a “last-minute political conspiracy” allegedly hatched by the Congress and the JDS.
Chikkodi
This constituency, once a stronghold of the Congress, became a battleground for high-stakes politics, featuring a significant showdown between two influential families — the Jarkiholis and the Jolles. Priyanka, daughter of senior Congress leader and Public Works Department (PWD) minister Satish Jarkiholi, contested against the sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Annasaheb Jolle. Priyanka won this seat for the Congress, which had lost it to the BJP since 2004.
Seasoned BJP incumbent Jolle secured his ticket for a second term, relying heavily on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Jolle had won by a margin of 1.17 lakh votes against Prakash Hukkeri of the Congress.
Gulbarga
Radhakrishna Doddamani, the son-in-law of Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge, emerged victorious in this seat, continuing the Kharge legacy after the AICC chief’s loss to BJP’s Umesh G Jadhav. The Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka has been a stronghold for the Congress party since its establishment before India’s first general elections in 1951.
Despite its historical dominance, the Congress has faced significant challenges from emerging rivals. The BJP managed to disrupt this longstanding hegemony with victories in 1998 and 2019. This constituency has witnessed many political shifts over the years. Out of 17 elections held, Congress secured victory 14 times, with many saying the fortress could be breached again by the BJP. But that did not happen, making it another upset for the BJP.
Bellary
The political battle in Bellary was quite musical, with both candidates, BJP’s B Sriramulu and Congress’ E Tukaram, resorting to catchy tunes to highlight their achievements. Sriramulu’s song, titled ‘Ballari manninenda eddubanda Anna Sriramulu’, highlighted his accomplishments as the health and transport minister.
Tukaram’s supporters, drawing inspiration from popular Kannada films like KGF, created a song to resonate with the electorate and showcase Tukaram’s pro-people initiatives.
Clearly, the Congress anthem seems to have worked with Tukaram winning the seat. In the 2019 Assembly elections, BJP’s Y Devendrappa emerged victorious, securing 6,16,388 votes against Congress’s VS Ugrappa. Bellary has historically been a stronghold of the Congress party, but the BJP has gained prominence in recent years, winning consecutively since 2004.
Another major factor that was seen to have an influence in this seat was Janardhan Reddy, the mining baron who launched his own party, Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha, in the Assembly elections but returned to the BJP fold again. His influence should have worked in favour of Sriramulu, but that did not seem to have worked.
Bidar
This seat saw one of the youngest candidates in Karnataka, Sagar Khandre, contesting. This 26-year-old, who is the son of Karnataka minister Eshwar Khandre and a third-generation politician contesting his maiden election, won the seat. He fought against BJP candidate Bhagwant Khuba, a seasoned politician and incumbent Union Minister of State for Fertilizers and Chemicals. Khuba, a two-time MP, had raised a revolt within the BJP. He was denied a ticket, as the party was looking at pitting another fresh face from the seat. Khuba had defeated Sagar’s father Khandre in 209 by a margin of 1,16,834 votes, but this time clearly faced anti-incumbency and opposition from a section of BJP leaders over his candidature. The Congress winning this seat may have come as a surprise to many, but Congress insiders say that the pulse for the people against Khuba was well encased by the father-son duo.
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