BENGALURU: The win in Hanagal comes as a ray of hope for the Congress, which has lost 17 of the 21 constituencies where bypolls were held, since the BJP came to power in 2019. Though the party lost Sindagi, its vote base has increased three-fold, compared to the 2018 results. Of 21 byelections in the past two years, the Congress has won only four -- Shivajinagar, Hunsur, Maski and now Hanagal in Haveri, the home district of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Political pundits say the show of unity among KPCC President DK Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah worked in favour of the Congress in Hanagal, with the leaders working together during the Assembly session, and protests against fuel prices and essential commodities. “That helped send a strong message to voters and instil confidence among party workers,’’ said a Congress leader. Earlier, the lack of unity and cold war between Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah were perceptible even to the masses.
The party had lost both Hanagal and Sindagi in 2018, so pulling off a win has given it a big boost. In Hanagal, while the BJP got almost the same number of votes as in 2018, the Congress got 87,300 votes, as against 74,015 votes in 2018.
In Sindagi, it managed to get JDS leaders and workers into the party and improve its performance. In 2018, the party candidate had secured 22,818 votes -- 14.22 per cent of the vote share -- which shot up to to 62,680 votes, or 38.18 per cent of the vote share. Former CM Siddaramaiah said the results are a sign of decline of the BJP in Karnataka, and the Congress will be back in power in 2023.