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ELECTIONS '96

BJP may leave only 3 seats for JD in Karnataka

Former Lok Sabha deputy speaker S Mallikarjunaiah and Ayanur Manjunath, both of the Bharatiya Janata Party, scored important wins in Tumkur and Shimoga respectively. Film star and Janata Dal candidate Ambaresh won from Mandya, trouncing veteran Congress leader B Made Gowda by a margin of 180,523 votes.

Mallikarjunaiah beat his nearest Congress rival R Narayan by a margin of 71,187 votes while Manjunath beat Congress contender, former assembly speaker D B Chandre Gowda by a huge margin of 159,721 votes.

In both places, the sitting Janata Dal MPs were nowhere in the picture, with Manjunath beating former chief minister S Bangarappa, now heading the new Karnataka Vikas Party. The JD, which had won 16 seats in the last elections, may win just three this time.

Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda is leading by 10,000 votes in Hassan. His nearest Congress rival is H C Srikantaiah. Siddaraju, also of the Janata Dal, is also leading in Chamarajanagar.

The BJP is also leading in Chikmanglur, where its nominee, D C Srikantappa established a 20,000 vote lead over former chief minister M Veerappa Moily.

In Udupi, BJP nominee I M Jayarama Shetty had a lead of over 20,000 votes over AICC general secretary Oscar Fernandes, who has won the last five elections from this constituency.

The BJP also leads in Bangalore south, Mangalore, Kanara, Mysore, Gulbarga, Kanakapura, Bidar, Davangere and Belgaum. Its electoral ally, the Lok Shakti is ahead in Chikkodi, Bagalkot, Bellary and Dharwad south, representing north Kanara.

In a keen contest in Kanakapura, BJP's M Srinivas wrested the lead from Premchandra Sagar of the Congress, with H D Kumaraswamy, son for former prime minister Deve Gowda, pushed into the third spot. Kumaraswamy represented Kamarapura in the dissolved Lok Sabha.