Congress's Jagadish Shettar Loses To BJP's Mahesh Tenginakai By 34,289 Votes

A staunch RSS man, Mr Shettar was part of the Jan Sangh and BJP for several decades before severing ties with the party.

Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who contested on a Congress ticket after the BJP denied him a nomination for the Assembly polls, was defeated in the Hubballi-Dharwad (Central) seat by a margin of 34,289 votes.

The BJP's Mahesh Tenginakai, a debutant in electoral politics, defeated Mr Shettar who is a six-time MLA. The former chief minister had quit the BJP on April 16 and resigned as Hubli-Dharwad (Central) MLA after being denied a ticket for the assembly elections.

Mr Shettar got 60,775 votes, while Mr Tenginkai bagged 95,064 votes in the high-stake battle. JD(S) candidate Siddalingeshgowda Mahanthavadeyar was in third place with 513 votes. As many as 1,251 NOTA votes were cast in the seat.

Mahesh Tenginkai is considered close to BJP General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santhosh. Mr Shettar won the Hubballi-Dharwad (central) seat in 2018, beating the Congress' Mahesh Nalwad with a margin of 21,306 votes, marking his sixth win in the Assembly elections.