Congress' Sowmya Reddy declared winner in Jayanagar assembly bypolls in Karnataka

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Bangaluru: In a major boost to Congress party, its candidate Sowmya Reddy on Wednesday defeated her nearest BJP rival BN Prahlad by a narrow margin of 2,889 votes in the Jayanagar Assembly constituency in South Bangalore in Karnataka.

At the end of the vote count, Sowmya Reddy polled 54,457 votes while the BJP's BN Prahlad secured 51,568 votes, an Election Commission official told reporters.

Amidst bursting of firecrackers and celebrations at Ramalinga Reddy`s residence, the winning candidate Sowmya said the victory belonged to all Congress party workers.

"This is a collective victory of all the Congress party workers and the guidance of my father (Ramalinga Reddy)," Sowmya told reporters.

With wins in Rajarajeshwari Nagar in Bengaluru and now in Jayanagar, the Congress tally in the 225-member Assembly has gone up to 80.

Polling in Jayanagar was countermanded following the death of BJP candidate BN Vijayakumar. The BJP nominated Kumar`s younger brother Prahlad as its candidate while Sowmya is the daughter of Congress leader and former Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy.

Polling for the Jayanagar seat was held on Monday. A total of 19 candidates were in the fray in the constituency which has a total electorate of 2,03,184.

55% voter turnout was registered after the voting concluded. Voting was by and large peaceful, according to the election commission officials.

Sanjiv Kumar, the chief electoral officer, said polling was event-free barring a few minor incidents.

Curiosity levels about the outcome of the polls were high particularly after the JD(S) withdrew its candidate, Kalegowda, to support the Congress. 

Ahead of the counting of votes, poll officials made elaborate arrangements at the SSMRV College - the counting centre. 

After the polling on Tuesday, EVMs were taken to NMKRV College and stored in a strong room, before being transferred to SSMRV. 

Adequate police and paramilitary forces were also deployed in full strength.