Congress wrests Jayanagar seat

Karnataka's ruling coalition partner Congress on Wednesday wrested the highprofile Jayanagar Assembly constituency here from the opposition BJP, with its candidate Sowmya Reddy winning by a slender margin of 2,889 votes.

Polling was held on Monday since elections to the seat were countermanded following the death of BJP contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4, ahead of the May 12 assembly election.

The BJP fielded Kumar's younger brother Prahlad, 57, in the fray against Sowmya, 35, daughter of former state Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy, who also won from the neighbouring BTM Layout segment.

Withdrawal of Janata DalSecular (JD-S) candidate Kalegowda from the fray on June 5 in support of Congress made it easier for Sowmya to take on Prahlad and 17 other contestants.

Amidst bursting of firecrackers and frenzied celebrations at Reddy's home office, Sowmya said the victory belonged to all party workers.

"This is a collective victory of all the Congress workers and guidance of my father (Ramalinga Reddy)," an elated Sowmya told reporters.

A rights activist and former member of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), she has been a member of the youth and women wings of the Congress' state unit.

Sowmya is the lone woman legislator from Bengaluru's 28 assembly segments and the youngest first-time lawmaker in the state.

With Sowmya's win, Congress has five women legislators in the 225-member Assembly, as against three from the BJP and none from the ruling coalition partner JD-S.

Jubilant scenes were witnessed at Reddy's home, while the BJP's state unit office was forlorn.

With wins in Raja Rajeshwari Nagar in Bengaluru southwest on May 31 and Jayanagar, the Congress tally in the aAsembly has gone up to 79, as against 36 of JD-S and 104 of BJP. Of the 28 seats in Bengaluru, Congress has 15, BJP 11 and JD-S 2.

Of the total 1,11,580 votes polled, Cong’s Sowmya Reddy (pic) secured 54,457 votes against 51,568 by BJP’s B.N. Prahlad