I bow down to voters' decision: Kumaraswamy’s son on bypolls defeat

Union Minister H.D. Kuamaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy said on Saturday that the election defeat is shocking, and he bows down to the voters' decision.

“I bow down to the decision of the voters. The people of the region have helped former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda (grandfather) and Union Minister Kumaraswamy (father) to become great leaders. I will keep my promises in the campaign and work for the good of the society,” Nikhil said while reacting to the defeat in the bypolls held for the Channapatna seat.

Nikhil lost to Congress candidate C.P. Yoheshwara by 25,413 votes, who after winning claimed that the JD-S’s days are numbered in the state.

Yogeshwara said Kumaraswamy made his son Nikhil a sacrificial goat for his prestige, adding that Kumaraswamy could have made him contest for general election in Mandya and ensured his victory.

“As he (Kumaraswamy) wanted to become Union Minister, he contested and sacrificed his son’s interests.

“I have been told that Deve Gowda is a huge force. However, he is aged now. The people have rejected him for this reason. This is time for him to rest. Following this result, the countdown for the end of the JD-S party has begun,” Yogeshwara stressed.

Yogeshwara also thanked Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and his brother D.K. Suresh for his win.

Nikhil polled 87,229 votes while Yogeshwara got 1.12 lakh (1,12,413) votes.

Meanwhile, in the Shiggaon Assembly constituency, Congress candidate Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan defeated the BJP candidate Bharath Bommai by 13,448 votes.

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai said that he also humbly accepts the people's verdict in the Shiggaon bye-election.

“The Congress won by flooding money. I humbly accept and respect the decision of the people of Shiggaon constituency. I congratulate Congress candidate Yasir Khan Pathan. Based on the people's response during the election campaign, we were confident of winning,” he said.

He claimed that Congress achieved victory by spending an excessive amount of money.

“Since they are in power, the people of the constituency chose a ruling party candidate,” he said.

Congress has won all three seats in the Karnataka by-election. The BJP and JD-S suffered setbacks as they lost the Shiggaon and Channapatna seats they held earlier respectively.

Congress candidate Yasir Khan Pathan who suffered an initial setback managed a strong comeback and got 1.07 lakh votes. Bharat Bommai polled 87,308 votes while 834 NOTA votes were polled.