3 out 7 rebel JD(S) MLAs win on Cong ticket

Three out of seven rebel JD(S) MLAs, who had joined the Congress, secured their seats in the 2018 Karnataka assembly poll with a comfortable margin, according to the Election Commission data.

The rebel MLAs had resigned from Karnataka legislative assembly on March 24, a day after they cross-voted in favour of the Congress candidates in the Rajya Sabha biennial election in the state.

Of these MLAs who contested on Congress ticket, three retained their seats, while four suffered defeat, the data showed.

R Akhanda Srinivasmurthy emerged victorious from Pulakeshinagar in Bengaluru district, defeating JD(S) candidate B Prasannakumar by 81,626 votes.

Similarly, Zameer Ahmed Khan won from Chamrajpet in Bengaluru urban district. He defeated BJP's M Lakshminaraya by 33,137 votes.

Also, Bheema Naik retained his Hagaribommanhalli seat in Bellary district by defeating BJP's K Nemiraja Naik by 7,232 votes.

However, H C Balakrishna lost his Magadi seat in Ramanagaram district to JD(S) candidate A Manjunath by 51,425 votes, while N Chaluvarayaswamy failed to secure his Nagamangala seat in Mandya district and was defeated by Congress' Suresh Gowda by 47,667 votes.

A B Ramesha Bandisiddegowda too could not retain Srirangapattana seat in Mandya district, where JD (S) candidate Ravindra Srikantaiah won by 43,688 votes.

Similarly, Iqbal Ansari lost his Gangawati seat in Koppal district to BJP's P Eshwarappa Munavalli by 7,973 votes.