Bengaluru, Nov 10 (IANS): The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party wrested the Sira Assembly seat in Tumkuru from the Janata Dal (S) on Tuesday, and the party's gamble to field a former Congress leader paid off.

Sira constituency traditionally elected leaders either from the Congress or the JD(S) till now and this is for the first time that the BJP has been able to win the seat.

The formal announcement by the Election commission is awaited even as the BJP's candidate, a radiologist by profession Rajesh Gowda secured 74,522 votes, while his nearest rival Congress candidate T.B. Jayachandra secured 61,573 votes and the JD(S) was able to garner 35,982 votes to end at the third place.

Meanwhile, BJP Vice President B.Y. Vijayendra, who is also the son of Lingayat strongman and Karnataka Chief Minister, B.S. Yediyurappa, said the electorate have reposed faith in the BJP's programme.

"I am a loyal soldier of the party. I did not take responsibility for Sira on my own, but it was given to me by the state party president Naleen Kumar Kateel. My job is to deliver results and I have delivered it. Whatever my party has asked me to deliver, I did," he said in response to a question whether the victory in Sira was his personal achievement.