Congress surged to a victory in the election to Jayanagar Assembly constituency on Wednesday with candidate Sowmya Reddy winning by a margin of a little over 2,000 votes against BJP's BN Prahlad.
Elections were held on Monday in the constituency after it was countermanded earlier due to the death of BJP candidate BN Vijayakumar just days before the May 12 State Assembly Elections.
Sowmya Reddy, the daughter of senior Congress leader and former Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy, is the Congress candidate making her electoral debut. BJP, meanwhile, fielded BN Prahlad, brother of popular leader BN Vijayakumar in the constituency.
However, the BJP's plan appears to have backfired after Congress candidate Sowmya Reddy's chances were boosted after JD(S) candidate Kalegowda pulled out from the race in support of Soumya. The Congress and the JD(S) formed a coalition government in the state after the elections threw up a fractured mandate.
Sowmya's win means she is the only woman MLA to be elected in Bengaluru alongside 27 men who won earlier. She was also previously in the news for hosting a ‘zero-waste’ wedding and considers herself a staunch vegan, animal rights activist and environmentalist.
The win means the Congress-JD(S) combine has a total of 119 seats in comparison to BJP's 104 in the 224-seat Assembly. The BJP has failed to make further inroads into the Congress-JD(S) combine after succumbing to a loss in the polls to Rajarajeshwari Nagar on May 31. Congress candidate Muniratna emerged victorious in the seat winning 1,08,064 votes and increasing his party’s tally to 79 MLAs.
Polls to Rajarajeshwari Nagar was countermanded ahead of the May 12 election owing to largescale seizure of voter ID from an apartment in the area.
A bye-election will now be held in Ramanagara constituency after Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy won in two constituencies - Ramanagara and Channapatna. Anita Kumaraswamy, wife of HD Kumaraswamy, who earlier contested from the constituency in 2013 is being considered as the candidate for the Congress-JD(S) combine.