Karnataka elections: Congress to move HC over BJP's Jayanagar victory
What's the story
In an absolute thriller finish to the Karnataka Assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate CK Ramamurthy was declared the winner from Bengaluru's Jayanagar constituency on Saturday.
He defeated Sowmya Reddy of the Congress by a narrow margin of just 16 votes after a recount amid protests by the grand old party.
The Congress will reportedly move the Karnataka High Court over the issue.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The Congress secured a crucial victory in the Karnataka elections by securing 135 seats in the state's 224-member Legislative Assembly.
Its political aspirations are set to benefit massively from this win before the Lok Sabha elections next year.
Meanwhile, the Congress now faces the massive challenge of picking the chief minister in the state, for which Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar are the top contenders.
Details
Dramatic fight for Jayanagar seat between BJP, Congress
As per the data available on the Election Commission of India (ECI)'s official website, BJP candidate Ramamurthy got a total of 57,797 votes to win the Jayanagar constituency, while the Congress's Reddy received 57,781 votes.
After the result was announced, Congress Karnataka head Shivakumar accused the officials of the ECI of trying to distort the electoral outcome of Reddy.
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Congress to move HC over Jayanagar incident
Initially, Reddy was announced as the Jayanagar winner, but the BJP reportedly demanded a recount of votes, after which Ramamurthy emerged victorious. Following the midnight drama, a Congress leader reportedly said, "We will move the high court against the BJP candidate and the Election Commission."
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Details on Karnataka Congress chief's demands
Tweeting a picture of him with Reddy's father and the grand old party's Karnataka working president, Ramalinga Reddy, and some Congress workers, Shivakumar demanded action against ECI officials.
"Congress candidate of Jayanagar Assembly Constituency, Mrs. Sowmya Reddy, has won but protested against the action of the election officials who tried to distort the result on the pretext of a recount," he wrote on Twitter.
Twitter Post
Twitter post by Shivakumar
ಜಯನಗರ ವಿಧಾನಸಭಾ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಅಭ್ಯರ್ಥಿ ಶ್ರೀಮತಿ ಸೌಮ್ಯ ರೆಡ್ಡಿ ಅವರು ಗೆಲುವು ಸಾಧಿಸಿದ್ದರೂ ಮರುಎಣಿಕೆ ನೆಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಫಲಿತಾಂಶ ತಿರುಚಲು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸಿದ ಚುನಾವಣೆ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳ ನಡೆ ವಿರೋಧಿಸಿ ಮತ ಎಣಿಕೆ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಜಯನಗರದ ಆರ್ ವಿ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆ ಎದುರು ಧರಣಿ ನಡೆಸಿ, ಮತ ಎಣಿಕೆ ಕೇಂದ್ರದ ಒಳಗೆ ಏಜೆಂಟರಲ್ಲದ ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಮುಖಂಡರಾದ ಆರ್… pic.twitter.com/9F9LGFwO05
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) May 13, 2023
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How BJP reacted after reclaiming Jayanagar
Meanwhile, the BJP camp broke into celebration as Ramamurthy was declared the winner. Party workers reportedly set off firecrackers and held a victory lap after regaining the Jayanagar seat, which is considered a stronghold of the saffron brigade.
Celebrating the victory, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya took to Twitter and said, "We RECLAIM JAYANAGAR! OUR HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO SRI BN VIJAYAKUMAR SIR (sic)."
Twitter Post
Check out Surya's Twitter post
WE RECLAIM JAYANAGAR!
— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) May 13, 2023
OUR HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO SRI BN VIJAYAKUMAR SIR. 🙏🙏
Further information
Looking at BJP, Congress poll performances in Bengaluru
Reportedly, the poll results in the Bengaluru region did not throw too much of a surprise. Both the Congress and BJP managed to retain their respective seats while witnessing a few hits and misses.
While the saffron brigade managed to raise its tally by one seat to 16 compared to the 2018 Assembly election results, the grand old party finished with 12 seats.
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Congress to decide on next Karnataka CM today
After securing a landslide victory in the state, the Congress is set to hold its first Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting at 5:30pm on Sunday to decide on the next Karnataka CM.
Reportedly, top contenders include the Karnataka Congress chief and former state CM Siddaramaiah.
Furthermore, the decision would be critical since it will likely influence the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.