The Congress is set for a comfortable win in Karnataka but the defeat of a closely-watched heavyweight stands apart in this stellar performance by the Opposition party.
Jagadish Shettar, a former Chief Minister, has been a talking point ever since he switched over from the BJP to the Congress in the run-up to the elections.
A prominent Lingayat leader, Mr Shettar lost to the BJP's Mahesh Tenginakai by nearly 30,000 votes in the Hubli-Dharwad Central assembly segment.
A six-time MLA, Mr Shettar joined the Congress last month after he was denied a ticket by the BJP to contest from Hubli-Dharwad Central. The veteran politician had then said he left the BJP because of "ill-treatment".
Following the switchover, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had said Mr Shettar's entry into the Congress would power the party to a thumping victory in the southern state.
The BJP, however, had said that Mr Shettar will fail to clinch a victory.
Hitting out at the veteran leader, former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Karnataka's tallest Lingayat leader, had said Mr Shettar had "made a mistake".
"We had promised him Rajya Sabha membership and we would make him a minister at the Centre. Amit Shah himself spoke to Shettar. I think he made a mistake leaving the party. We wholeheartedly supported him almost every time," Mr Yediyurappa told NDTV.
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