Congress' Munirathna appears set to win Rajarajeshwari Nagar seat: HD Kumaraswamy says JD(S) not concerned, but BJP must lose

As the Congress appeared set to win with a massive lead in Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency, newly-elected Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy said on Thursday that the JD(S) was not concerned with the trends as his party only wanted the BJP to lose the Assembly seat, according to News9. While the Congress maintained the first position throughout the counting of votes, the JD(S) claimed the second spot. BJP’s Muniraju Gowda left the counting centre in Rajarajeshwari Nagar when his Congress rival Munirathna took a lead by over 45,000 votes. According to CNN-News18, Gowda’s supporters then conceded defeat but there was no word from the BJP leader. Kumaraswamy’s remark came against the backdrop of the inconclusive talks between the JD(S) and Congress over the candidature for the constituency. [caption id=“attachment_4485431” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy. AP[/caption] While the Assembly elections across the state were held on 12 May, polling was held in Rajarajeshwari Nagar on 28 May. The Election Commission deferred the election in the constituency after about 10,000 “genuine”-looking voter IDs were recovered from a flat in the Rajarajeshwari Nagar. Since the Congress-JD(S) formed a post-poll alliance to form the state government, they made attempts to hold talks to avoid fielding candidates against each other. JD(S) leaders had reportedly urged the Congress to support its candidate GH Ramachandra in Rajarajeshwari. However, The Hindu reported that Congress’ Munirathna had refused to “remain silent” over the demand and decided to fight the elections. The JD(S) had decided that if the Congress gave in to their demand for support in RR Nagar, then it would not campaign for its candidate in Jayanagar. Elections were postponed in Jayanagar following the death of sitting BJP MLA from the constituency BN Vijayakumar. Congress leader DK Shivakumar and Kumaraswamy were to take a final call on the issue of candidature. “The Congress party has made a big sacrifice in forming the coalition government (in the state) and the JD(S) should acknowledge that by supporting our candidate,” Deccan Herald had quoted Shivakumar as saying. However, the two parties did not enter into any pact and went their own way to contest for the Assembly seat. Click here to follow LIVE updates on the by election 2018 results