Karnataka's Tuesday Bypolls To Re-Elect Legislators On Two Seats

By-elections would be held for two constituencies in the Karnataka state assembly on Tuesday, parallel to high-profile phase-2 of Bihar state elections and Madhya Pradesh bypolls to 28 seats.

Polling would be held to elect new legislators from Bengaluru's Rajarajeshwari Nagar, or RR Nagar, seat and Sira in the southern district of Tumakuru - 70 km from the state capital.

In terms of numbers, the result of RR Nagar and the other Assembly constituency voting that day, Sira, will make little difference to the stability of the Karnataka government, given the BJP's numbers in the 225-seat House - the ruling party holds 117 MLAs.

But perception and prestige are a big part of politics, and Tuesday's battle is to safeguard just that.

All of Karnataka's three main political parties - the ruling BJP, the Congress and the Janata Dal Secular - have fielded candidates for these two seats. All of them have also campaigned vigorously on the ground, often with little regard for COVID-19 safety norms.

The MLA for Bengaluru's RR Nagar was N Munirathna, who won on a Congress ticket, but defected to the BJP leading to his disqualification.

To secure this prestigious seat, the Congress has now fielded Kusuma H, the wife of IAS officer Ravi who made headlines after his death by suspected suicide in 2015. The JDS candidate is V Krishnamurthy. Mr Munirathna is contesting on a BJP ticket.

In Sira, the BJP has fielded Dr Rajesh Gowda against former minister TB Jayachandra of the Congress and Ammajamma of the JDS. The seat was held by the JDS and fell vacant following the death of MLA Satyanarayana.

Counting of votes and result are scheduled for November 10.