Daijiworld Media Network - Vijayapura (SP)

Vijayapura, Sep 12: In the tussle for supremacy between Congress and BJP to grab the lone seat in the legislative council election from the local bodies constituency of Bagalkot and Vijayapura districts, Congress has gained upperhand. The candidate supported by Congress-JD(S) coalition, Sunil Gowda Patil, who happens to be the brother of former minister, M B Patil, has registered victory by an impressive margin.

The seat had fallen vacant with the resignation of BJP MLC, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who became MLA of the city constituency here. Sunil Gowda Patil got 4,819 out of 8,111 votes polled while BJP's Goolappa Shatagara, who got 2,779 votes, was humbled. Five independents who were in the race failed to go beyond two-digit mark and the total votes of 59 secured by them was far less than the number of rejected votes which accounted for 454.

For M B Patil, who had led the stir to secure minority religion status for Lingayat when he was the minster in Siddaramaiah government, this has come as a shot in the arm. For him, having been relegated in terms of importance by the Congress, ensuring his brother's victory was very important. For JD (S) too this was an opportunity to show to the people that the coalition is going strong. As legislators from both these parties worked very hard, Congress candidate could win the election.

For the BJP, stakes of union minister, Ramesh Jigajinagi, and former state minister, Govind Karjol, were high as they had recommended ticket for Shatagar. For Yatnal too it was important to ensure win in the seat vacated by him. BJP state general secretary, N Ravikumar, had camped in the city for long to ensure victory of the party candidate, but these efforts went down the drain.

Some attribute the defeat of BJP candidate to the factional politics in that party here. The election was held on September 6.