BENGALURU: Congress candidate for Jayanagar assembly constituency Sowmya Reddy trumped BJP's Prahlad to win the seat with 54,457 votes on Wednesday.
BJP's candidate had polled 51,568 votes at the end of 16 rounds of counting. The last of the 224 seats, results of Jayanagar seat brings the Karnataka assembly election to an end taking the Congress' tally to 79 (MLA of Jamkhandi Siddu Nyamagoudar was killed in a road accident soon after results of the election).
Congress that had won 78 out of the 222 seats that went to poll on May 11, managed to secure Rajarajeshwarinagar as well as the Jayanagar assembly seat.
The BJP's number stays stagnant at 104.
Former minister and BTM layout MLA Ramalinga Reddy's daughter Sowmya took a lead in the first round of counting and maintained the same till completion of 16 rounds. Reddy who had secured a ticket for his daughter amid heavy opposition by party leaders campaigned singlehandedly to ensure her victory.
While bigwigs of the BJP like state president B S Yeddyurappa, MPs Shobha Karandlaje, Ananth Kumar, D V Sadananda Gowda, former deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka campaigned hectically for late B N Vijayakumar's brother Prahlad, leaders of the Congress- caught up with the coalition power tussle- were a no-show in Jayanagar.
"I would like to thank the people of Jayanagar for putting their trust in me. I have many plans for the development off the constituency and will begin work immediately. Credit goes to the party high command, senior leaders and my father," Sowmya told the media as she gained a considerable margin against BJP's Prahlad. Sowmya was given the ticket to Jayanagar seat with the backing of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
"At the end of 11th round of the total 16 rounds of counting, Sowmya was ahead with 43,476 votes over Prahlad, who received 30,746 votes," the official told IANS.
Vote counting that began at 8 a.m. at a private college in the upscale suburb, was underway.
Polling was held on Monday after the May 12 Assembly election in the seat was countermanded following the death of Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4.
The BJP nominated Kumar's younger brother Prahlad as its candidate, while Sowmya is the daughter of Congress leader and former state Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy.
Earlier on June 5, the Janata Dal (Secular) (JD-S) decided to support the Congress after withdrawing its candidate Kalegowda from the constituency.
Sowmya Reddy is the daughter of heavyweight and former state minister R. Ramalinga Reddy.
The counting of votes for the 222 of the 224 assembly seats in the Karnataka state assembly took place on May 15.
The BJP had emerged as the single largest party in the state assembly with 104 seats, while the Congress and JD(S) garnered 78 seats and 37 seats respectively.
However, after days of high-political drama in the state, the Congress and the JD(S) came together and managed to form the government in the state in partnership.
(with input from agencies)