The Congress has bulldozed the BJP’s bastion in Kodagu, defeating the party veterans and sitting MLAs in Madikeri and Virajpet constituencies.
In the keenly-fought electoral battle, Manthar Gowda of the Congress won the Madikeri seat, polling 84,879 votes while Appachu Ranjan M.P. of the BJP secured 80,477 votes. Dr. Gowda won by a margin of 4,402 votes. Napanda Muthappa of the JD(S) secured the third place, polling 6,233 votes. Dr. Gowda maintained the lead in almost all the rounds.
NOTA recorded 1516 votes in Madikeri
In Virajpet where former Speaker K.G. Bopaiah of the BJP was in the fray, Congress candidate A.S. Ponnanna, an advocate by profession, won the seat by a margin of 4,291 votes. He polled 83,791 votes while Mr. Bopaiah secured 79,500 votes. NOTA polled more votes than the JD(S)candidate in Virajpet. Mr. Mansoor Ali secured 1,121 votes while NOTA recorded 1,636 votes.
By wresting the twin seats in the coffee land from the BJP, the Congress ended the saffron party’s decades-long hold in Kodagu.
The winning candidates thanked the people for voting for the change and expressed confidence in performing to their expectations.
