Bengaluru, June 4 (IANS): Former Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy registered a thumping victory in the Lok Sabha elections from Mandya after he defeated his nearest rival Venkataramane Gowda aka Star Chandru of the Congress by 2,84,620 votes on Saturday.

Gowda secured 5.67 lakh votes against Kumaraswamy who polled 8.51 lakh votes.

The contest was keenly watched in the backdrop of the rivalry between Kumaraswamy and D.K. Shivakumar, as Gowda is known to be a close associate of the Congress Deputy CM.

The JD-S derives its core strength from the Mandya region, which is considered the heartland of the powerful Vokkaliga community in the state.

The JD-S has also won the Kolar Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 71,388 votes. The party had fielded Mallesh Babu as the NDA candidate from the seat against Congress' K.V. Gowtham, a fresh face.

As per the official data, Mallesh Babu polled 6.91 lakh votes against Gowtham who managed 6.20 lakh votes.