6.09 pm: “Today, the news from Karnataka is extremely encouraging...This is indicative of the changed mood in the country,” PTI quotes Congress leader Maninsh Tewari as saying.
4.42 pm: BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa says the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) have used money and muscle power to win the bye-polls in Karnataka, reported PTI. “We are not keeping quiet after the defeat,” he says. “We will introspect our performance so that we win the 2019 elections.” He says the party will win 22 to 23 Lok Sabha seats.
3.58 pm: “JD(S)-Congress alliance is strong enough to win the entire state,” says Kumaraswamy. “We will definitely win the 2019 polls as well.”
3.52 pm: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy says this is a “moral win” after the BJP claimed that the coalition will not work, reports NDTV. “People have given their answer.”
2.52 pm: “4-1 result (unsure about Shimoga LS) in Karnataka looks like a Test series win under Virat Kohli,” says Congress leader P Chidambaram. “Coalition has delivered.”
2.28 pm: Kumaraswamy says the BJP is offering around Rs 25 crore to Rs 30 crore to Congress and JD(S) legislator, “but they will never be able to poach them”, reports ANI.
2.12 pm: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy says the goal is to win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats by working with the Congress. “This elections was the first step,” ANI quotes him as saying. “This is not an empty boast just because we have won today. This is the confidence of people in us. This win is not making us arrogant.”
2.06 pm: State Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao terms VS Ugrappa’s victory a “fantastic win”. “It’s a rejection of Modi’s govt policies. The BJP couldn’t cite one instance of what good our PM has done to the people of K’taka [Karnataka]. They ran a purely negative campaign.”
1.44 pm: Congress candidate VS Ugrappa wins Ballari Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 2.4 lakh votes, reports ANI.
1.42 pm: “When Karnataka BJP forgets the mandate given by the people [and] get consumed by their arrogance,” says Siddaramaiah. “Ppl [people] will make them bite the dust. This time it was Ballari mining dust.”
1.40 pm: Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah says elections are the essence of democracy. “Today’s result is the effort to reconstruct the crumbling blocks of democracy in the country.”
1.34 pm: Congress candidate VS Ugrappa leads over BJP’s J Shantha by 1.84 votes in Ballari, reports The News Minute.
1.27 pm: Janata Dal (Secular) candidate LR Shivaramegowda wins the Mandya Loka Sabha seat with a margin of more than 3 lakh votes, reports The Hindu.
1.24 pm: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy congratulates Congress and JD(S) leaders. “BJP calls JDS-Congress coalition ‘Apavitra Maitri’, today that contention has been nullified,” ANI quotes him as saying.
1.20 pm: “The sweeping victory of the Congress-JD(S) alliance in the #KarnatakaBypolls is just a teaser for what is in store for the BJP next year,” says Congress.
1.12 pm: BS Yeddyurappa’s son wins Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 52,148 votes, reports The Hindu. He defeated Madhu Bangarappa of JD(S).
12.57 pm: State Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao says it is a “resounding win” for Congress and JD(S) coalition. “4-1 thrashing to BJP,” he says. “People have rejected the negative politics of BJP in Karnataka and the abject failure of Modi govt [government] in addressing people’s issues.”
12.51 pm: Janata Dal (Secular) Anitha Kumaraswamy wins Ramanagara Assembly seat with a margin of 1.09 lakh votes, reports ANI.
12.46 pm: State Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao says people have rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party and the government led by Narendra Modi. “Bye-poll results will send a message to the entire country that the time for change has come.”
12.44 pm: Minister for Irrigation and Medical Education DK Shivakumar says issues like Ram Mandir cannot be used as a “political plank” in South India, reports ANI. “People are looking at what they are going to get, what benefit they are going to get in social and economic sector, admn [administration] and transparency.”
12.40 pm: Congress candidate AS Nyamagouda wins the Jamkhandi Assembly seat by a margin of 39,480 votes, reports ANI.
12.35 pm: BJP’s BY Raghavendra leads in Shivamogga by more than 47,388 votes, reports ANI.
The Janata Dal (Secular) candidate LR Shivaramegowda leads in Mandya over the BJP by 2,33,517 votes. Congress’ VS Ugrappa was leading over BJP’s J Shantha by 2,14,826 votes in Ballari.
8 am: Counting begin at 8 am on Tuesday for the bye-elections of three Lok Sabha and two Assembly seats in Karnataka on Tuesday. Jamkhandi and Ramanagara Assembly seats, and Shivamogga, Ballari and Mandya Lok Sabha seats voted on Saturday. An approximate 67% of the electorate voted.
Mandya is viewed as a Congress stronghold, while Ballari from the mining belt is a bastion of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which won the most seats in the Assembly elections in May, but could not form an alliance.
The bye-elections were necessitated after Yeddyurappa, B Sriramalu, and CS Puttaraju of JD(S) resigned as MPs of Shivamogga, Ballari and Mandya on their election to the Assembly in May earlier this year. Bye-polls to Jamkhandi Assembly seat were called after Congress MLA Siddu Nyamagouda died, while Ramanagara fell vacant after Kumaraswamy gave up the seat over Channapatna, the second constituency from where he had won.
Around 67% of the electorate had voted in the bye-elections.