Congress candidate Sowmya Reddy is contesting her first assembly election from Jayanagar
The Janata Dal (Secular) has withdrawn its candidate for the Jayanagar assembly seat, voting for which is scheduled to take place on June 11.
Announcing that JD(S) candidate Kalegowda had pulled out of the race, JD(S) national president and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda said in a statement that his party will support Sowmya Reddy, the nominee fielded by its ally Congress.
The decision has been taken after consultations with JD(S) workers in Jayanagar, the statement said.
Sowmya Reddy, who holds a master's degree in environmental technology from New York Institute of Technology, is the daughter of former Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy. She is contesting her first assembly election.
Election for the seat was withheld after the death of sitting lawmaker BN Vijayakumar of the BJP. Mr Vijayakumar, who won the seat twice in a row since 2008, died of a heart attack last month, just days before the May 12 assembly elections.
The JD(S) and Congress that entered into a post-poll alliance have 114 lawmakers in the 225-member legislature when one seat is kept aside for a nominated member. The BJP emerged the single largest party with 104 seats.
On the Jayanagar seat, the BJP has fielded Mr Vijayakumar's brother BN Prahlad, eyeing a sympathy wave in the upscale constituency in Bengaluru. The JD(S) move to withdraw its candidate is seen as an attempt to consolidate the ruling coalition's vote in the BJP stronghold. The result will be declared on June 13.
Last week, the Congress won RR Nagar, another constituency where voting was held back after the discovery of around 1000 voter identity cards, where the JD(S) had put up a candidate.
While the JD(S) has 37 lawmakers in the assembly, the Congress remains at 78 as one of its newly elected lawmaker from Jamkhandi --- Siddu Nyamgouda --- died in a road accident died around a week ago.