Daijiworld Media Network – Karkala (SP)
Karkala, Jan 14: In the bypoll held to Merinapura, tenth ward of the local municipality, Congress registered victory. Its candidate, Ramesh Devadiga, defeated his nearest BJP rival by 54 votes. The bypoll was held on January 10.
Out of 752 voters in the ward, 582 had exercised franchise and one vote was declared invalid. While Devadiga got 274 votes, BJP candidate, Narayana Devadiga, secured 220 votes. Independent candidate, Achuta Pai, could get 87 votes.
The bypoll was necessitated because of the demise of Ramesh Kumar, an independent candidate representing Citizens’ Forum, who had won from here in the previous election.
With this victory, Congress has improved its tally in the 23-member municipal council to 14 as against BJP’s nine.