Chamundeshwari Election Results 2018 updates: Deve Gowda set to win as Siddaramaiah trails by over 36,000 votes

Siddaramaiah appears set to lose from Chamundeshwari

JD(S) leader GT Deve Gowda is appearing set to defeat Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Chamundeshwari by a margin of over 36,000 votes.

Siddaramaiah continues to trail in Chamundeshwari
 

JD(S) leader GT Deve Gowda is currently leading with over a lakh votes in Chamundeshwari. According to latest figures by the Election Commission, Siddaramaiah has polled 65,899 votes,

Siddaramaiah continues to trail in Chamundeshwari
 

JD(S) leader GT Deve Gowda is currently leading with over a lakh votes in Chamundeshwari. According to latest figures by the Election Commission, Siddaramaiah has polled 65,899 votes,

In 2013, GT Deve Gowda won from Chamundeshwari by 7,103 votes

According to the data on Election Commission of India’s website, JD(S) leader GT Deve Gowda won from Chamundeshwari seat in 2013 by a margin of 7,103 votes. Currently, Deve Gowda is leading against Congress’ Siddaramaiah by a margin of 25,861.

People have rejected Siddaramaiah, says GT Deve Gowda

Maintaining an emphatic lead over Siddaramaiah in Chamundeshwari constituency, JD(S) leader GT Deve Gowda claimed that the people have “rejected” the Karnataka chief minister. “He (Siddaramaiah) lost because of his attitude, because of attacking everyone and because of his loose talk,” GT Devegowda was quoted as saying by ANI.

JD(S) leader GT Deve Gowda leads with 57,322 votes; Siddaramaiah trails with 35,056 votes

After 12 rounds of counting, GT Deve Gowda and S Yathindra both establish unassailable leads in the neighbouring constituencies of Chamundeswari and Varuna respectively. Victory imminent for both.

Input by S Shivaranjani/Team 101Reporters

Watch: GT Deve Gowda supporters celebrate in Chamundeshwari

JD(S) workers are celebrating in full swing near the residence of GT Deve Gowda, who has gained an emphatic lead over Siddaramaiah in Chamundeshwari.

Video courtesy: S Shivaranjini/101Reporters

Watch: JD(S) workers burst firecrackers near GT Deve Gowda’s residence as he leads in Chamundeswari

Video courtesy: S Shivaranjini/Team 101Reporters

Siddaramaiah trails by over 14,000 votes

According to the latest numbers by the Election Commission, JD(S) leader GT Deve Gowda is leading in Chamundeshwari constituency by over 14,000 votes. While Deve Gowda has 38,039 votes, Siddaramaiah has 23,305 votes so far.

Is contest in Chamundeshwari as tough as it seems?

A look at the data of the previous election reveals the Congress has always had a consistent vote share of around 35-38 percent in Chamundeshwari. Though part of it went to Varuna after delimitation in 2008, in most elections, it is either Congress or Siddaramaiah as an Independent in 1983 and subsequently as a Janata or Congress candidate who triumphed. The only time a non-Siddaramaiah Janata candidate won from Chamundeshwari was in 2013 when GT Deve Gowda won from the seat.

Siddaramaiah’s move to contest from Badami an acknowledgement of how Chamundeshwari could get sticky

The decision to make Siddaramaiah contest from two seats is an indication of who calls the shots in Congress, as far as Karnataka affairs are concerned. It is also an acknowledgement of how Chamundeshwari could get sticky given how JD(S) and BJP seem to be having a tacit understanding to get the better of Siddaramaiah. For the record though, Congress points to Narendra Modi contesting from Varanasi and Vadodara in 2014, to undercut the BJP’s taunts.

The BJP has fielded a little-known local RSS worker Gopal Rao against Siddaramaiah. The ruling party at the Centre has never won Chamundeshwari and is not known to be a force to reckon with in the constituency. But the impression it conveys is that BJP has virtually retired from the contest, in order to help GT Deve Gowda of JD(S) mount a significant challenge to the chief minister. What is interesting is that Gowda was Siddaramaiah’s poll manager during the time when the chief minister was in the Janata parivaar.

GT Deve Gowda leads with 27,741 votes

According to the latest numbers by the Election Commission, JD(S) leader GT Deve Gowda is leading in Chamundeshwari constituency by over 12,000 votes. While Deve Gowda has 27,741 votes, Siddaramaiah has 15,061 votes so far. Meanwhile, BJP’s SR Gopal Rao has got 1,208 votes.

Ego tussle raises stakes in Chamundeshwari

JD(S) leader HT Deve Gowda is leaving no stone unturned in Chamundeshwari, for it is not just any other seat, but an ego tussle, where he is up against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who has been his old friend and colleague. 

Siddaramaiah announced his arrival on the political scene from this very constituency in 1983 when he won as an independent. He won again in 1985, this time on the Janata Party ticket. And till today, he has contested seven times from Chamundeshwari, losing only in 1989 and 1999. “I was in charge of all those election campaigns,” Gowda told Firstpost nostalgically. “We were close friends.”

But Siddaramaiah parted ways with the JD(S) in 2006, and joined the Congress.

This will be Siddaramaiah’s ’last election’

A day after the voting for the Karnataka Assembly election were held, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserted that the Congress would retain power in the southern state and said this was his last election." 

Speaking to reporters in Chamundeshwari constituency, one of the two seats from where he contested in the high-stakes polls, along with Badami in north Karnataka, the Congress leader had said on Sunday, “This will be my last election.”

Deve Gowda leads against Siddaramaiah by over 3,000 votes

JD(S) leader GT Deve Gowda is leading in Chamundeshwari constituency by over 3,000 votes, according to the latest numbers by the Election Commission. While Deve Gowda has 6,870 votes, the Karnataka chief minister has 3,425 votes so far.