Gururaj Jamkhandi/TNN
Dharwad : The BJP ’s S V Sankanur secured a third consecutive victory in the Karnataka Legislative Council’s West Graduates’ Constituency, defeating Congress candidate Mohan Limbikai by 9,323 votes. In 2008, as a BJP candidate, he defeated sitting Congress MLC H K Patil in the constituency. The outcome is particularly significant for the Congress, which had invested considerable political capital in the contest against an incumbent who has won the seat twice before.
The result is a major setback for the ruling Congress, whose high-profile campaign failed to dislodge the BJP incumbent. Congress’s campaign falls short The defeat has raised questions about the Congress’s ability to translate its organisational strength and leadership intervention into electoral gains. KPCC president B K Hariprasad and other senior leaders campaigned extensively for Limbikai, seeking to reclaim the constituency. However, their efforts failed to overcome Sankanur’s lead. The result also highlights Limbikai’s changing political fortunes.
He contested the 2013 Assembly election from Hubballi-Dharwad West as a KJP candidate but lost, and later joined the Congress. His latest defeat, this time as the Congress nominee, marks an unsuccessful bid to regain the constituency he had won for the BJP in 2008. Before completing his term, however, Limbikai resigned from the Legislative Council and left the BJP to join the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP), launched by former chief minister B S Yediyurappa.
Sankanur’s victory gives the BJP another term in the constituency and leaves the Congress confronting the political implications of a failed campaign despite the involvement of its senior leadership.