BENGALURU: Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s grandson and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy’s son, Nikhil Kumaraswamy is trailing Ramanagram constituency in the ongoing counting of votes for the Karnataka Assembly polls.
As per the latest trends by the Election Commission at 2.15 pm, Nikhil Kumaraswamy got 76975 votes against Congress’ HA Iqbal Hussain who secured 87690 with 47.98 per cent vote share so far.
He is trailing by a margin of 10715 votes.
If the JDS leader goes on to face defeat, this would be his second consecutive loss after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Nikhil had contested Mandya’s seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha election but lost to BJP-backed Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh.
On the other hand, the Congress is on its way to scoring an emphatic victory in the Karnataka polls.
The BJP is leading in 55 seats and won 10 and Janata Dal-Secular in 17 and won 3, according to the latest data by Election Commission. Congress workers broke into celebrations in Karnataka and the party headquarters in Delhi.
Voting for the 224-member Karnataka assembly was held on May 10 and counting of votes began at 8 am on Saturday. Congress workers distributed sweets with some dancing to the tune of drums.
Party workers also celebrated at the residence of Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakaumar in Bengaluru.
Senior Congress leader Ramanath Rai defeated in Bantwal, C T Ravi lost his account in Chikkaballapur, Amrit Desai from Dharwad rural defeated, Renukacharya loses from Honnali against D G Shanatana Gowda.
At the party office in Delhi, party workers burst crackers to celebrate the anticipated victory. The fiercely contested election that saw high-pitch campaigns from the political parties is crucial for both BJP and Congress (ANI)