Congress wins battle in Hunsur

Its candidate H.P. Manjunath romps home with an impressive margin of 39,727 votes

Disqualified MLA and BJP candidate A.H. Vishwanath on Monday suffered a humiliating defeat in the byelection to Hunsur Assembly constituency in Mysuru district with the Congress candidate, H.P. Manjunath, winning the seat with an impressive margin.

Mr. Manjunath, who had represented the constituency twice in the past, won by a margin of 39,727 votes against his nearest rival Mr. Vishwanath for whom the byelection had become a “do-or-die” battle.

Hunsur is one of the two seats the Congress has won in the byelections, out of 15.

Unlike other constituencies, the BJP failed to catch the pulse of voters in Hunsur. Mr. Vishwanath had won the seat in 2018 as the JD(S) candidate. The Congress has now wrested the seat from its rival which failed to retain the seat despite vigorous campaigning by the top JD(S) leaders.

Mr. Vishwanath’s poll plank - creation of D. Devaraj Urs district with Hunsur as its headquarters - did not earn him enough votes to sail through.

Mr. Manjunath maintained the lead right from the beginning and secured sizeable votes till the end of 20 rounds. He polled 92,725 votes while Mr. Vishwanath, who was seen as one of the key players for the fall of coalition government, secured 52,998 votes. Mr. Somashekar remained in third position with 32,895 votes. A total of 994 people opted for “None of the Above (NOTA)”. The total votes polled was 1,82,811. Ten candidates were in the fray.

The counting of votes took place at D. Devaraj Urs First Grade College under tight police security. Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar monitored the counting process.

Mr. Manjunath, a follower of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, thanked the people for reposing faith in him and promised to live up to their expectations. “Mr. Vishwanath brought discredit to Hunsur by his act and the constituency retained its identity by rejecting him (Mr. Vishwanath),” he maintained.

“I demand Mr. Vishwanath to apologise to the people of Hunsur for disrespecting the people’s mandate.”

Though former Minister and JD(S) MLA G.T. Deve Gowda remained neutral in the by-election, Mr. Manjunath also thanked him for his victory. “His (Mr. Gowda’s) words have come true. He was the first person to wish me much before the by-election that I would romp home. In 2008 too, he had wished me and I had won the poll,” he told reporters.

Mr. Vishwanath, who came to the counting centre before the counting of votes took off, left the place soon after the counting began.

Reacting to the result, he said he will accept the people’s verdict and credited misinformation against him for his defeat. “Despite the loss, I will continue to serve the people of Hunsur,” he added.

The disqualified MLA’s supporters appeared let down by his defeat.

Much before the counting of all the 20 rounds ended, celebrations broke out in the Congress camp.

Carrying party flags, the supporters, unmindful of the ban orders, gathered in large numbers outside the counting centre to rejoice and burst crackers.

Mr. Manjunath later joined the celebrations and was carried by jubilant supporters on their shoulders to the statue of former Chief Minister D. Devaraja Urs. Mr. Manjunath was later offered an apple garland by his cheering supporters.

“The people of Hunsur have punished Mr. Vishwanath for his wrongs. Ignoring the mandate handed out to him, he quit the seat showing disregard to the voters. The lesson is loud and clear,” said a member of KRRS who had supported the Congress.