The Congress has returned to power in Karnataka with a historic mandate, but some of its candidates won by small margins of less than 300 votes, including former state unit chief Dinesh Gundu Rao. As per the Election Commission, Dinesh Gundu Rao, who contested from the Gandhinagar Assembly seat, managed to win by 105 votes - the smallest margin in the state - against BJP's Sapthagiri Gowda.
Among other tightly-fought competitions, Congress' TD Rajegowda defeated BJP's DM Jeevaraya by a margin of 201 votes from Sringeri Assembly seat.
Congress' KY Nanjegowda also defeated BJP's KS Magunta Gowda by a thin margin of 248 votes from Malur Assembly seat.
While these three are Congress victories with a slender margin, Congress state chief DK Shivakumar won from his Kanakpura seat by a margin of 122,392 votes over his JD (S) rival B Nagaraju, pushing the BJP to the third place.
BJP's Dinakar Keshav Shetty defeated JD-S candidate Suraj Naik Soni by a margin of 676 votes from the Kumta assembly seat.