Bengaluru: In a high-voltage electoral battle, Dr. C.N. Manjunath of BJP is most likely to register a thumping victory against sitting Congress MP D.K. Suresh, the brother of Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, in Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha Constituency.

Dr. Manjunath, who maintained the lead from the first round, had polled 8,99,481 votes against Suresh, who secured 6,98,032 votes, with the margin being 2,01,449 after the conclusion of several rounds of counting.

Dr. Manjunath, the former Director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, Bengaluru, had been pitted against Suresh, the Congress heavyweight, the lone MP to win the 2019 LS polls amid the strong wave of PM Modi, when the State saw BJP win big in 25 seats of the total 28 LS seats.

Speaking to media persons, Dr. Manjunath, who is most likely to taste the victory in his maiden elections, attributed his good performance to the concerted efforts of BJP and JD (S), the NDA coalition partners in the State.

Bangalore Rural LS seat had garnered the attention of political pundits, as it was a battle of sorts between two prominent Vokkaliga leaders in the State, D.K. Shivakumar and former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy (HDK).

Dr. Manjunath is the brother-in-law of HDK and son-in-law of former PM H.D. Deve Gowda.