Karnataka Bypoll results: JDS wins Mandya by record margin

Bengaluru, Nov 6: Janata Dal (Secular) retained Mandya Lok Sabha seat for the third time in a row. JDS candidate LR Shivarame Gowda defeated BJP's Dr. Siddaramaiah in the Mandya LS byelections. Shivarame Gowda polled 5,69,347 votes. BJP candidate Siddaramaiah got 2,44,404 votes.

JD(S)' LR Shivaramegowda wins Mandya parliamentary seat with a margin of 3,24,943 votes. Shivarame Gowda won by a historic margin breaking the previous record held by former minister MH Ambareesh.

The bypoll was held after JDS MP C.S.Puttaraju vacated the seat to contest in the Karnataka assembly elections.

Mandya saw the lowest voter turnout at 53.93%, down from 71.41% in 2014, in all the parliamentary and assembly seats. Mandya, at the heart of the Vokkaliga belt of southern Karnataka, was expected to be a cakewalk for the ruling Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition, but Congress' decision to leave the seat for the JD(S) as part of their seat-sharing arrangement, led to dissidence within the party coming in to the open.