With the BJP suffering massive losses in Karnataka, 12 of the 24 cabinet ministers in the incumbent government have lost their seats. The biggest loss might be that of Health Minister K Sudhakar, who lost to Congress' Pradeep Eshwar in Chikkaballapur constituency. Sudhakar lost by 10,642 votes, making this his first defeat after winning for three consecutive terms — in 2013, in 2018, and the bye-election after he defected to the BJP from the Congress. Sudhakar, who was appointed as health minister in October 2020, was criticised for his handling of the pandemic in the state.
With his claim to fame enforcing the hijab ban in the state and the saffronisation of textbooks, School Education Minister BC Nagesh lost to Congress’s K Shadakshari in Tiptur. The two-time MLA lost by 17,652 votes to Shadakshari.
MTB Nagaraj, Karnataka's wealthiest candidate with assets of Rs 1,609 crore, held portfolios of Small Scale Industries and Municipal Administration. Nagaraju lost by 4,787 votes to Congress’ Sharath Bachegowda. A three-time legislator, he was one of the 17 rebel MLAs whose defection in July 2019 led to the Congress-JD(S) coalition government led by HD Kumaraswamy falling.
Transport department and tribal affairs minister Sriramulu lost by a significant margin of 29,300 votes to Congress’ B Nagendra. Sriramulu was initially the health minister at the time the pandemic broke out, but quickly realised he was out of depth, and was shunted out after a cabinet reshuffle in October that year.
Murgesh Nirani, the minister of Large and Medium Industries, lost by over 10,000 votes from Bilgi to Congress’ JT Patil. Patil is a three-time Congress MLA.
Minister for Culture and Small Irrigation Govind Karjol lost by a wide margin of 17335 to the Congress candidate RB Thimmapur.
The BJP’s move to field Housing Minister V Somanna from two constituencies – Varuna and Chamarajanagara, has failed with the incumbent minister losing from both seats. In Varuna, where he was fielded against former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, he lost by a margin of over 45,000 votes. In Chamarajanagara, which was believed to be an easy win for Somanna, he lost to Congress’ C Puttarangashetty by over 7k votes.
Law and Parliamentary Minister JC Madhuswamy lost his Chikkanayakanahalli seat to the JD(S) Suresh Babu by a margin of 10,048 votes. Madhuswamy stirred up a controversy in January this year when an audio clip of him saying, “We are not running the government, we are just managing it,” was leaked to the media. Following this, his own party men had condemned Madhuswamy’s purported statement.
Minister for Agriculture BC Patil lost to the Congress party Basavanappa Ujaneshwar by a wide margin of 15,020 votes. BC Patil, who was with the Congress during the 2018 elections, was among the 17 MLAs who defected to the BJP to bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. BC Patil was dubbed “one of the 40 thieves” by Siddaramaiah, during his campaign against the BJP in a run up to the elections.
Minister for Youth Empowerment and Sports KC Narayana Gowda lost the KR Pete constituency to the JD(S) candidate HT Manju by a wide margin. Narayana Gowda was pushed to the third place as the major fight for the segment was fought between JD(S) and Congress. The BJP leader was among the legislators, who defected to the BJP in 2019. He was previously with the JD(S).
Shankar Patil, Minister for Textiles and Sugarcane, lost by over 22,000 votes to Ningaraddi Hanamaraddi Konaraddi from the Congress in the Navalgund segment.