20-year BJP run ends as Congress wins both seats

Madikeri: The hilly Kodagu district, which has two Assembly Constituencies — Madikeri and Virajpet — that has been a bastion of the BJP for the last two decades with Hindutva being an important plank, has been wrested by Congress.

Congress candidate Ajjikuttira S. Ponnanna (Virajpet) and Dr. Manthar Gowda (Madikeri) have made the BJP taste defeat this time.

While Virajpet Constituency has been represented by K.G. Bopaiah from the Are Bashe Gowda community, the Madikeri Constituency was represented by Mandepanda P. Appachu Ranjan, from Kodava community.

The reluctance of the BJP to field new faces brightened the chances of Congress candidates and this resulted in a neck-to-neck fight and the Congress triumphed.