The southern region of Karnataka has this time shifted its focus to the Congress from the Janata Dal (Secular). The grand old party has got more than half of the seats in this part of the state, data analysed by News18 shows.
This part of Karnataka is considered crucial for HD Deve Gowda’s JD(S) as the region historically has given his party a major share of seats as well as votes, data from the Election Commission of India reveals.
But this time, out of the 51 constituencies in the southern region, the Congress has won 31. This is almost double what the grand old party got in 2018 – just 16 seats.
Also known as the Old Mysuru region, the belt is home to two of the top leaders of the Congress – one being potential chief ministerial contender Siddaramaiah and the other being state party president DK Shivakumar. However, in the last three elections, the Congress was struggling here, with the seats won by the grand old party constantly dropping.
In 10 years, between 2008 and 2018, the seats won by the party dwindled by around half – from 26 in 2008 to 16 in 2018. On the other hand, the seats won by the JD(S) were rising during this period – from 15 in 2008 to 24 in 2018.
Interestingly, at least half of the seats the JD(S) has been bagging in the last four polls, including this election, have been from south Karnataka. This time, the party is getting about 20 seats and 13 are from this region. In the last elections, 24 out of JDS’s 37 seats were from this part of the state, and even in 2013 and 2008, half of the party’s total seats were from this region, the ECI data analysed by News18 shows.
This time, the Congress party has snatched five seats from the BJP and 13 from the JD(S) when compared to the 2018 results. Further, the Congress has bagged more seats than the combined seats of the JD(S) and BJP.
In 2018, the BJP had won nine seats including Gundlupet, Chamaraja, Tiptur, Tumkur City, and Nanjangud. This time, these five seats have been taken by the Congress.
The 13 seats the Congress is snatching from the JD(S) are T Narasipur, Periyapatna, Krishnarajanagara, Arsikere, Krishnarajapete, Chintamani, Nagamangala, Shrirangapattana, Madhugiri, Maddur, Malavalli, Kolar, and Sira.
If we look at the last four assembly polls in the state, the BJP has never got good numbers in the region. Nine seats in 2018 were its highest catch since at least the 2008 polls.
As per the latest available data, the Congress had won 133 seats in the polls and was leading on three. The JD(S) had won 19 seats. The BJP had won 63 seats and was leading on 2.
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