Karnataka polls: Small players won two seats, vital in closely-fought contest
With major parties securing 92.6 per cent of the total votes polled, independents and other smaller parties had to be satisfied with the thin margin of votes secured by them.
Published: 16th May 2018 05:41 AM | Last Updated: 16th May 2018 05:41 AM | A+A A-
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BELAGAVI: With major parties securing 92.6 per cent of the total votes polled, independents and other smaller parties had to be satisfied with the thin margin of votes secured by them.The small number of
votes polled also resulted in most of the candidates representing new and smaller parties to lose their deposits in the election.
With 7.4 per cent vote share, these small parties and independents have been able to secure three seats, and might emerge as key players in the political developments over the next few days. Among the small parties that won are Bahujan Samaj Party - whose N Mahesh won in Kollegal constituency by defeating Congress’s AR Krishna Murthy by 19,454 votes.
The Karnataka Pragyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) - which was in turmoil due to the differences between its founders and actor Upendra - also opened its account, as its candidate R Shankar won Ranebennur constituency. Though an independent candidate has won Malur constituency, he is backed by the Congress.
Vote share
Considering registered parties alone, BSP came in fourth with a vote share of 0.3 per cent or 1,08,589 votes overall, of which 71,792 was polled in Kollegal with its winning candidate.On the other hand, All India Mahila Empowerment Party, which was contesting elections for the first time, also secured 0.3 per cent of the votes - 97,670 - after floating candidates in all constituencies of the State. As a result, parties which have contested elections in the past, such as CPM and Swaraj parties, received less number of votes (average of 0.2 per cent).
KPJP, despite securing only 0.2 per cent of the votes with 74,229 votes, have an elected representative in Shankar, who alone secured 63,910 of all votes polled to the party.Independents in various constituencies secured four per cent of the total votes polled with 14,34,379 votes in total.
