K'taka polls: HD Kumaraswamy wins, but son Nikhil faces defeat

BENGALURU: In a surprising turn of events for the former prime minister HD Deve Gowda's family, his son HD Kumaraswamy emerged victorious while his grandson Nikhil tasted defeat in the Karnataka Assembly polls from the Ramanagaram Assembly seat.

Nikhil lost to Congress candidate HA Iqbal Hussain by 10,715 votes while the BJP candidate Gautham Gowda secured 12,912 votes, as per the Election Commission of India.

HD Kumaraswamy, the former chief minister, won from the Channapatna constituency, defeating BJP's CP Yogeshwara by 15,915 votes.

In the counting of votes on Saturday, Congress registered an emphatic win in the Karnataka Assembly polls winning 135 seats.

The BJP which was in power was reduced to 66 seats and JD(S) won 19 seats.

Congress president DK Shivakumar, who himself registered a win in the Kanakapura seat, had urged the voters to vote for the party's candidate in the polls. The defeat comes as a surprise as the Ramnagaram seat used to be a stronghold of the Kumaraswamy family.

In the past, Ramanagar's seat was represented by H.D. Devegowda in 1994 and when he became the Chief Minister. Ramanagar was later represented by HD Kumaraswamy who won in the 2004, 2008, 2013 and 2018 Assembly elections.

Nikhil's mother Anita Kumaraswamy also had represented the Ramanagar seat previously after winning it during the 2018 by-polls. Earlier, Nikhil had contested Mandya's seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha election but lost to BJP-backed Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh.