Congress bags Channapatna, Union Minister Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil loses
This was the third straight election loss for former PM Deve Gowda's grandson. Congress's Yogeeshwara won by over 25,000 votes
Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda (3rd right) speaks at a poll rally campaigning for his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy (left) in Channapatna. Also see are former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, (2nd left), Unioni Ministers H D Kumarasamy (2nd right), and V Somanna (right). File photo: X/@hd_kumaraswamy
C P Yogeeshwara of the Congress defeated Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy (JDS) to win the Channapatna Assembly bypoll in Karnataka on Saturday (November 23).
Yogeeshwara, who had quit the BJP and joined the Congress ahead of the bypoll, defeated Nikhil, grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, by a margin of 25,413 votes. Yogeeshwara, a five-time MLA and a former minister, got 1,12,642 votes. Nikhil secured 87,229 votes.
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Channapatna seat had been a prestige battle between Kumaraswamy and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. Deve Gowda, former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, and Kumaraswamy among others had campaigned for Nikhil.
This was the third straight election loss for 36-year-old Nikhil. In 2019, he lost the Mandya Lok Sabha poll to Independent Sumalatha, wife of late Kannada actor Ambareesh, and in 2023, he tasted defeat in Ramanagara in the Karnataka Assembly polls.
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Channapatna bypoll was necessitated after Kumaraswamy, who had defeated Yogeeshwara in 2023, contested the Lok Sabha elections in May from Mandya and won, and retained the MP seat.
Congress's C P Yogeeshwara (centre) during a poll campaign in Channapatna. File photo: X/@CPYogeeshwara
Kumaraswamy had represented Channapatna twice. He won in 2023 with 96,592 votes against Yogeeshwara (then in BJP) who got 80,677 votes.
Nikhil was the NDA candidate in Channapatna, a stronghold of the Janata Dal (Secular), an ally of the BJP at the Centre. Kumaraswamy, a former Karnataka Chief Minister, is currently the Heavy Industries and Steel minister in the Narendra Modi Cabinet.
“This was an election for the identity of the JD(S) and they had pledged Deve Gowda’s grandson for it. Nikhil’s loss indicates the end for JD(S),” Yogeeshwara told the media.