Defeat accepted, no need to be disheartened: DK Shivakumar on K'taka by-poll results

As BJP is leading on 12 out of 15 Assembly seats, Congress leader DK Shivakumar on Monday said that the party has accepted the public mandate and there is no need to be disheartened.

"We have to agree with the mandate of the voters of these 15 constituencies. We have accepted defeat, I don't think we have to be disheartened," Shivakumar said while speaking to ANI.

He added, it is clear that people have accepted the defectors, the disqualified MLAs of Congress and JDS.

The resignation of the 17 rebel MLAs and their subsequent disqualification by then assembly speaker K R Ramesh Kumar in July led to the collapse of the Congress-JDS government and paved the way for the BJP to come to power.

In these by-polls, the BJP has fielded 13 disqualified legislators as party candidates from their respective constituencies.

As per Karnataka by-polls results trends by the Election Commission, BJP is leading on 12 seats, Congress is leading on 2 seats and an independent candidate is leading on 1 seat.

The results of these by-polls will decide the fate of the four-month-old B S Yediyurappa-led BJP government in Karnataka.

The counting of the votes commenced at 8 am today and results are likely to be declared by this afternoon.The result will not just decide the fate of the BJP government in the state but also of those thirteen rebel MLAs who had sought the re-election following their resignation from the erstwhile Congress-JD(S) coalition.Yediyurappa confidently said that BJP will win at least 13 seats and the government will be "safeguarded".The elections were held for 15 Assembly seats which were left vacant after the legislators resigned in July, triggering the collapse of the Congress-JDS coalition and paving the way for the BJP to come to power.