Sumalatha stays ahead in Mandya; Prajwal set for win in Hassan; H.D. Deve Gowda trails in Tumakuru

Mysore/Mandya/Hassan/Chamarajanagar: Victory Goddess is set to garland sitting Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha as he is leading by more than 1 lakh votes against Congress-JD(S) Coalition nominee and former CM Siddharamaiah’s hand-picked candidate C.H. Vijayashankar.

In Mandya, Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambarish is leading with more than 85,000 votes in the 14th round of counting against Coalition candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy.  Coalition candidate R. Dhruvanarayan was leading by 10,000 votes against BJP’s V. Sreenivasa Prasad in Chamarajanagar.

Coalition candidate Prajwal Revanna is heading towards a massive victory in Hassan against BJP’s A. Manju.

The trends is a setback to ruling Congress-JD(S) Coalition in Old Mysore region as their candidates Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of CM H.D. Kumaraswamy was trailing against Sumalatha. The only solace for the party is victory of Prajwal Revanna, who is also the grandson of former Prime Minister and JD(S) Supremo H.D. Deve Gowda.

Chamarajanagar is considered as bastion of the Congress but its party candidate and sitting MP R. Dhruvanarayan maintained just 10,000 vote lead against five-time MP and BJP candidate V. Sreenivasa Prasad.       

Considered one of the most important regions of Karnataka, the old Mysore Region has played an important role in the formation of the State government in earlier elections. Surprisingly, despite the region being the home turf of former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, the imminent defeat of C.H. Vijayashankar is considered as set back to the former CM.     

Sumalatha Ambarish ahead by 85,000 votes

In a neck-to-neck contest with Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the high-voltage constituency of Mandya, Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambarish was leading by 85,000 votes at the 14th round of the counting. Just three rounds of counting is left and defeat seems to imminent for Nikhil going by the counting trends.         

Though Nikhil Kumaraswamy maintained the lead in the first two rounds, Sumalatha recovered and increased her leading margin in the 6th, 7th and 8th rounds. However, from 9th round, Sumalatha did not look back but went on increasing her number of votes and by the 11th round she was assured of clinching victory.

This rural general constituency has an estimated Scheduled Caste population of 14.73% and a Scheduled Tribe population of 1.94%. The estimated literacy level of Mandya is 70.22%.

Former PM H.D. Deve Gowda trailing in Tumakuru    

While the counting of votes is still in progress with BJP leading in most constituencies, Tumakuru, which has been a Congress stronghold, is currently under the BJP canopy. G.S. Basavaraj who is contesting elections on BJPs ticket is leading by more than 25,000 votes after the 14th round of counting in the constituency with former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda trailing from the Janata Dal (Secular) party.

One of the most important figures of not just Karnataka but national politics, Deve Gowda contested from Tumkur. He had made a way in his bastion Hassan for his grandson Prajwal Revanna in Hassan and is now seeking another term from the Congress stronghold.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Congress party’s Muddahanumegowda won by 74,041 votes against BJP’s G.S. Basavaraj.  Interestingly, Basavaraj has won thrice from Congress ticket and once from the BJP in 2009 from Tumkur.

Also, Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva-Lingayats are two dominant groups from this constituency. Deve Gowda represents the Vokkaligas while Basavaraj belongs to the Lingayats.