Karnataka BJP wrests tough Sira Assembly seat from JD(S), CM's son BY Vijayendra credited for maiden win

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka wrested the tough Sira Assembly seat in Tumkuru from the Janata Dal (S) on Tuesday. The party had fielded Rajesh Gowda, a radiologist by profession, from the seat.

Sira constituency traditionally elected leaders either from the Congress or the JD(S) till now and this is for the first time that the BJP has been able to win the seat.

Meanwhile, BJP Vice President BY Vijayendra, who is also the son of Lingayat strongman and Karnataka Chief Minister, BS Yediyurappa, said the electorate have reposed faith in the BJP`s programme.

"I am a loyal soldier of the party. I did not take responsibility for Sira on my own, but it was given to me by the state party president Naleen Kumar Kateel. My job is to deliver results and I have delivered it. Whatever my party has asked me to deliver, I did," he said in response to a question whether the victory in Sira was his personal achievement.

The formal announcement by the Election commission is awaited even as the BJP`s candidate, Gowda secured 74,522 votes, while his nearest rival Congress candidate TB Jayachandra secured 61,573 votes and the JD(S) was able to garner 35,982 votes to end at the third place.

BJP has never won the Sira seat but fielded Gowda, son of former Congress MP CP Mudalagiriyappa, who had recently joined the party. BJP's victory in Sira is a big blow to the JD-S as it would be the second Assembly seat where the BJP would succeed in breaching the Vokkaliga stronghold. Earlier, under Vijayendra Yeddyurappa`s leadership, the BJP had wrested KR Pet seat in Mandya district from JD-S.

Live TV

In November 3 bypolls, Sira and RR Nagar recorded a voter turnout of 82.31 per cent and 45.24 per cent respectively. The results will have no bearing on the stability of the BS Yediyurappa government.

According to a media report by News18, Vijayendra, the youngest child of the Karnataka CM, rushed to his father's side to claim victory in Sira seat. He is one of the vice-presidents of the state BJP and has now fixed a dominant place by securing the toughest seat for his party. As per News18, he was his father's backroom boy and strategised the entire election campaign.