Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he had taken the BJP’s loss in the Hangal Assembly constituency by-election seriously and will take corrective steps.
“I have taken the election setback very seriously, and will take the necessary corrective action,” he told reporters in Mandya.
The reasons identified by Mr. Bommai for the BJP’s loss in Hangal included the ‘good work’ of Congress candidate Srinivas Mane during the last three years and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the party was not able to win the support of all the people who had voted in favour of late C.M. Udasi, whose death necessitated the by-election.
However, Mr. Bommai said, party leaders and workers had worked hard with the aim of ensuring victory for the BJP in the constituency.
He pointed out that Congress had won the by-elections to Nanjangud and Gundlupet during the tenure of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. But, the party lost both the seats in the subsequent Assembly elections in 2018.
In Mangaluru, State president of the BJP Nalin Kumar Kateel said that the party will introspect its loss in Hangal. He exuded confidence that the party will be able to win the same seat in the 2023 Assembly elections.
In Hassan, Chikkamagaluru MLA C.T. Ravi said the BJP will accept the people’s verdict. “We have won one and lost one. We have got a mixed response," he told mediapersons.
Mr. Ravi, who is a national general secretary of the BJP, said he welcomes the people’s verdict. “We will not blame EVMs for the defeat in one constituency. If the BJP had won both the seats, the opposition parties would have blamed the EVMs,” he said.
The defeat in Hangal should not be seen as people’s verdict against the CM or the BJP administration. The Congress candidate had been in touch with people of the constituency since he faced a defeat in the previous election. The delay in selecting a BJP candidate could have played a role in the outcome, he added.
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