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Congress sweep three assembly bypoll seats of Karnataka- Sandur, Shiggaon and Channapatna.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah quoted Mahatma Gandhi and said, People’s court is better than the courts. (Image: PTI)
Bengaluru: Buoyed by the assembly election by-polls, which saw the ruling Congress sweeping in all three seats, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said he won in the ‘people’s court’.
He gave credit to the guarantee schemes for the party’s victory in the assembly bypolls in Sandur, Shiggaon and Channapatna.
“You know what Mahatma Gandhi said. He said people’s court is better than the courts. Now people’s court has given me its verdict,” Siddaramaiah told reporters.
This victory was significant for the Congress as the BJP and JD(S) formed an alliance, he explained.
“We won from Kalyana Karnataka (Sandur), Kittur Karnataka region (Shiggaon), and old Mysuru region (Channapatna). In all the places we won. So, this is very significant.” “After our government came to power about one and half years ago, the BJP made false allegations on me and my government. They also spread lies about our schemes,” Siddaramaiah said.
The CM is accused of the MUDA site allotment scam where 14 sites in the upmarket of Mysuru were allotted to his wife, Parvathi. After the controversy broke out, Parvathi returned the sites to MUDA.
He also came down heavily on the opposition BJP and JD(S) for their lies and ‘baseless allegations’.
The Chief Minister also took a swipe at JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda and his son Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy for “crying” in public during elections.
“Deve Gowda and his sons cry, but didn’t their heart melt when several women cried in the Prajwal Revanna case in Hassan?” he asked.
Former JD(S) MP and grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Prajwal Revanna is in jail for allegedly sexually assaulting several women and filming them.
‘I bow down to voters’ decision’: Kumaraswamy’s Son On Bypoll Defeat
Union Minister H.D. Kuamaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy said on Saturday, “I bow down to the decision of the voters. The people of the region have helped former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda (grandfather) and Union Minister Kumaraswamy (father) to become great leaders. I will keep my promises in the campaign and work for the good of the society.”
Nikhil lost the Channapatna seat to Congress candidate C.P. Yoheshwara by 25,413 votes, who after winning claimed that the JD-S’s days are numbered in the state.
Regarding this, Yogeshwara said, “As he (Kumaraswamy) wanted to become Union Minister, he contested and sacrificed his son’s interests.”
“I have been told that Deve Gowda is a huge force. However, he is aged now. The people have rejected him for this reason. This is time for him to rest. Following this result, the countdown for the end of the JD-S party has begun,” Yogeshwara stressed.
Yogeshwara also thanked Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and his brother D.K. Suresh for his win.
Nikhil polled 87,229 votes while Yogeshwara got 1.12 lakh (1,12,413) votes.
Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan Defeated BJP’s Bharath Bommai
In the Shiggaon Assembly constituency, Congress candidate Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan defeated the BJP candidate Bharath Bommai by 13,448 votes.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai said that he also humbly accepts the people’s verdict in the Shiggaon by-election.
“The Congress won by flooding money. I humbly accept and respect the decision of the people of Shiggaon constituency. I congratulate Congress candidate Yasir Khan Pathan. Based on the people’s response during the election campaign, we were confident of winning,” he said.
He claimed that Congress achieved victory by spending an excessive amount of money.
“Since they are in power, the people of the constituency chose a ruling party candidate,” he said.
Congress has won all three seats in the Karnataka by-election. The BJP and JD-S suffered setbacks as they lost the Shiggaon and Channapatna seats they held earlier respectively.
Congress candidate Yasir Khan Pathan who suffered an initial setback managed a strong comeback and got 1.07 lakh votes. Bharat Bommai polled 87,308 votes while 834 NOTA votes were polled.
(With inputs from IANS)
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)