#KarnatakaBypolls : Congress – JD(S) Coalition Trounces BJP, Wins 4 Out Of 5 Seats

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In a result that is  a shot in the arm for the ruling coalition government in Karnataka, the Congress and JD( S) alliance have scored a major victory in the Bypolls held. The alliance romped home with a stunning 4 – 1 win shocking the  BJP.  Bellary, Mandya, Ramanagaram and Jamkhandi went to the alliance, while BJP won the Shimoga Lok Sabha seat.

The coalition candidates won both the assembly constituencies and have also won two of the three Lok Sabha seats. Addressing a press conference after the win H D Kumaraswamy said : “This elections was the first step. There are 28 LS seats, we’ll work with Congress to win all of them, that is our goal. This is not an empty boast just because we have won today. This is the confidence of people in us. This win is not making us arrogant.”

For the BJP on the other hand the results of the by-elections come as a major setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2019 elections with the party also losing the Ballari Lok Sabha seat, considered a stronghold of the controversial mining barons — the Reddy brothers.

The Congress-JD-S alliance’s tally will go up to 120 seats in the 224 member assembly where the BJP has 104 MLAs.

Senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram tweeted that the coalition has delivered.