BJP locked in fierce contest with Cong, JD(S) in bypolls

The ruling BJP in Karnataka is locked in a fierce contest with opposition Congress and JD(S) in the bye-elections to five assembly constituencies tomorrow, for which elaborate security arrangements have been made.

A total of 71 candidates are in the fray from Govindarajanagar, Chitapur (reserved), Chennapatna, Ramanagara and Kollegal (reserved) constituencies, which have an electorate of about 10.10 lakh.

The stakes are high for BJP which is looking to win as many seats as possible, besides ensuring victory of two Congress defectors seeking re-election- housing minister V Somanna (Govindarajanagar) and cine actor C P Yogeshwar (Chennapatna), to enhance its strength of 114 (excluding speaker) in the 224-member house.

The BJP is also trying to make inroads into the Congress citadel in Chitapur, where Union labour minister M Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyanka is contesting, besides in Kollegal and Ramanagara, a seat vacated by former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy of the JD(S). The Congress has been going all out to retain the four seats- Govindarajanagar, Kollegal, Chitapur and Chennapatna.

The bypoll in Chitapur, Kollegal and Ramanagar was necessitated following the election of Kharge, Dhruvanarayana and Kumaraswamy to the Lok Sabha. Over 4,600 security personnel have been deployed in the constituencies.

Counting of votes will be held on August 21.