BJP sweeps Karnataka bypolls, Yediyurappa government set to continue
Bengaluru/IBNS: The four-month old Yediyurappa government in Karnataka is set to continue as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the crucial bypolls held in the state to attain halfway mark in the 224-member assembly.
As per the latest report, the BJP is set to win 12 of 15 seats went to bypolls while the Congress won two seats leaving none for the Janata Dal Secular (JDS).
The win came as a relief for Yediyurappa who formed the government after several disqualified MLAs defected from the Congress-JDS coalition.
All the defected MLAs were given tickets by the BJP with Yediyurappa promising them cabinet berths if elected.
The BJP, which had won 105 seats in 2018 state polls, will increase its tally now to 118 with the support of an Independent.
The Congress has 66 while JDS now falls down to 34.
After the people of Karnataka gave a fractured mandate in 2018, the Congress and JDS quickly joined hands to form the government with JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister.
Though Yediyurappa was sworn in as the Chief Minister for two days prior to Kumaraswamy's assumption of power, the BJP leader had failed to prove its majority.
Accepting defeat, Congress leader DK Shivakumar said, "We have to accept the result...We accept our defeat but Congress won't vanish."
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