JD-S faces total rout in Karnataka bypolls

Karnataka's regional party Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) is facing a total rout in the state Assembly bypolls, as it failed to open account even in the 12 seats it contested on December 5 separately, a party official admitted.

"Our candidates are trailing behind the BJP in Yeshvanthpur in Bengaluru east and Krishnarajapete in Mandya district and the Congress in Hunasuru in Mysuru district," JD-S general secretary Ramesh Babu told IANS.

Breaking away from its former coalition alliance partner Congress, the JD-S contested separately against the ruling BJP and the Congress in dozen seats.

"Independent Sharath Kumar Bachegowda, whom we have supported by not fielding our candidate, is leading in Hosakote in Bengaluru Rural district over BJP's M.T.B. Nagaraj, who defected from the Congress," asserted Babu.

Nagaraj is the richest candidate in the by-elections as he declared a whopping Rs 1,230 crore worth assets in his poll affidavit last month.

The party did not contest in Athani and Yellapura seats in the state's northwest region.

The JD-S, which won 36 seats in the May 2018 Assembly elections, came to power in the southern state after 12 years in a post-poll alliance with the Congress, which allowed H.D. Kumaraswamy to become the chief minister for the second time.

Resignation of 14 Congress and three JD-S rebel legislators in mid-July, however, led to the fall of the 14-month-old fledgling coalition government on July 23 after Kumaraswamy lost the confidence vote in the 225-member Assembly.

Like its former ally (Congress), the JD-S won only one Lok Sabha seat ,Hassan, in the April-May general elections though it contested in 7 of the 28 seats in the state in a pre-poll alliance with the former.

The BJP won 26 seats and an Independent backed by it won one seat (Mandya).

"We accept the verdict of the people in all humility and will analyse our party's position in the state after reviewing the results in the by-elections," Babu added.IANS