In Bangalore Rural, this round to Deve Gowdas over the DK brothers

BJP LEADER C N Manjunath beat Congress heavyweight and sitting MP D K Suresh to secure Bangalore Rural, in one of the most watched contests in Karnataka.

A renowned cardiologist and the son-in-law of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, Manjunath, fighting his first election, beat Suresh, the brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, by over 2 lakh votes.

While Manjunath, who fought on the BJP ticket, secured 10.79 lakh votes, Shivakumar secured 8.09 lakh votes.

For the BJP-JD(S) alliance, the victory is significant — Bangalore Rural has been considered the dominion of the DK brothers for over a decade. While Shivakumar has represented Kanakapura, one of the eight Assembly seats that comes under the Bangalore Rural parliamentary seat, since 2008, Suresh had been elected from the Lok Sabha seat thrice since 2013.

Soon after he won the election, Manjunath said: “The seat was under the dominance of the Congress for a long time and it is now with the BJP-JD (S).”

A BJP worker claimed that the seat was as good as won by the party once “Dr C N Manjunath’s name was announced”.

Conceding defeat, Suresh said: “I will be with the workers of the constituency.”

For the JD(S), the victory is sweeter as the constituency was once seen as a Vokaliga bastion of the party. Both JD (S) chief Deve Gowda and son and ex-CM H D Kumaraswamy have been elected from this seat at different points in the past.

The BJP-JD(S) made a significant push in this election, holding public meetings and door-to-door campaigns.

BJP Ramanagara district president Anandaswamy said the alliance was able to cash in on three major factors: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 10-year track record, Deve Gowda’s popularity and Manjunath’s service as a cardiologist.