Bangalore, Aug 21, DHNS: Results of the byelections to five assembly seats are expected to be out by Friday noon. All arrangements have been made for counting of votes which will begin at 8 am. 

Polling of votes for the five seats -- Govindrajnagar, Ramanagar, Channapatna, Kollegal and Chittapur -- was conducted on August 18. The results will decide the fate of prominent leaders like Housing Minister V Somanna from Govindrajnagar, C P Yogeshwara from Channapatna and Priyank Kharge, son of Union Minister Mallikharjuna Kharge, from Chiattapur.

It is a do-or-die battle for Somanna, who is facing a tough fight from Congress candidate Priya Krishna, son of sitting MLA M Krishnappa. But Somanna is a old war horse and he is confident of making it to the Assembly. He may continue as the minister whether he wins or not because he has been hand-picked by the Chief Minister.

Crucial test

For Yogeshwara, who resigned as a Congress MLA to join the BJP and later lost in the Lok Sabha elections contesting under the BJP ticket, the byelection is an opportunity to stay afloat in active politics. Or his political career would be under threat.

However, as far as the ruling BJP is concerned, the outcome of byelections will not have any bearing on the State Government. There is no anxiety among the ruling party leaders about the results as winning any of these seats would only come as a bonus.

Except for Ramanagar, all four seats are held by the Congress, which needs to retain these seats to prove that it has not lost its hold on those places. For the JD(S), it is a prestige issue to win at least Ramanagar seat, which is a bastion for former CM H D Kumaraswamy.

The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer will keep updating the latest results on its website --www.ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in