Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Nov 4: It will be an easy victory for the alliance partners JD (S) and Congress in the by-elections, for which the polling was held on Saturday, November 3.

As per the exit poll, the coalition parties should win four out of the five seats. This should further boost the morale of the coalition partners for the upcoming nationwide Lok Sabha polls.

There is every chance that Congress will snatch the Ballari Lok Sabha seat from the grip of BJP after a long gap of 14 years. V S Ugrappa, MLC seems to have all the advantage against J Shantha of BJP. The constituency saw a poll percentage of 63.85. The election was necessary here as B Ramulu, former minister contested the last assembly elections, thus giving up his MP position. Though Sriramulu has vociforously campaigned for J Shantha, who happens to be his sister certain factors may not augur well for her victory. One is the internal differences between the factions belonging to Sriramulu and B S Yeddyurappa which has resulted in the division in the support base of the Lingayats and Nayaks. Another strong factor is the strong unity displayed the arch rivals. Congress and JD (S) not only stood together
while campaigning for Urgrappa but also saw the sufficient resources are given to him to fight the battle. Because of which Ugrappa was able to convince the voters of his community to vote for him, despite being a stranger to the constituency. On the contrary, Sriramulu is dependent solely on his position as a Nayaka leader.

The other Lok Sabha constituency of Mandya should be far easier than Ballari as it is the stronghold of JD (S) since many years. In the last assembly elections also, Mandya voters showed their alligance to JD (S). In addition, H D Kumaraswamy has put in all efforts to make sure that their candidate L R Shivaramegowda wins by a hefty margin over Dr Siddaramaiah of BJP.

BJPs candidate L Chandrashekar nailed the last screw in the coffin for BJP in the Ramanagara constituency by withdrawing his candidature at the very last minute and also joining back to his earlier mentor Congress, which took the party unawares. This means that it will be a walkover for Anita Kumaraswamy, JD (S) candidate and wife of chief minister Kumaraswamy.

The only hope for BJP is the Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat. Though the voter turnout was just 61.05 percent, Raghavendra, son of former CM Yeddyurappa might get the nod due to his father's popularity in the region. However, Madhu Bangarappa, alliance candidate fielded from JD (S) who is also the son of former CM and very well-known personality, late S Bangarappa might throw a stiff fight and with a bit of luck win the seat also.

In the assembly constituency of Jamkhandi it would be the sympathy factor that will make the victory of Congress candidate Anand Nyamgouda, son of the deceased sitting MLA, an assured one. Voters of this constituency turned out in large numbers, which clearly indicates that Anand has gained an upper hand over his rival. All the voters of this constituency cutting across caste lines are in favour of the Congress candidate even though BJP has tried its best to pull away voters to their side.