Results of crucial Karnataka bypolls to be out today

Results of the by-elections to two assembly and three Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka will be released on Tuesday. The outcome of the elections is expected to have a bearing on the state’s political scene with both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition calling it a semi-final for the 2019 general elections.

The bypolls were held to Ballari, Shivamogga and Mandya Lok Sabha seats, and Ramanagara and Jamkhandi assembly segments.

Elections to the Lok Sabha seats were necessitated after the incumbent members of Parliament took oath as members of Legislative Assembly following the assembly elections. State BJP chief and former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa had vacated the Shivamogga seat after he was elected to the assembly from the Shikaripura seat, and B Sreeramulu had vacated his Ballari seat after being elected from the Molkalmuru assembly constituency.

CS Puttaraju of the Janata Dal (Secular) vacated the Mandya seat after he was elected to the assembly from the Melkote constituency.

The Ramanagara assembly seat was won in May by chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, who opted to take oath as the legislator of the neighbouring Channapatna, the other seat he contested. The Jamakhandi seat fell vacant in May after the MLA, Siddu Nyamgoud, died in a road accident just days after he was elected.

The BJP has fielded candidates in all five seats and the Congress-JD(S) alliance worked out a seat-sharing arrangement — the Congress is contesting two and the JD(S) three seats.