The State capital, known for its strong pro-incumbency, yet again refused to disturb the status quo with both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress retaining their Lok Sabha constituencies. While the BJP won all three seats in Bengaluru, the Congress retained the rural parliamentary seat. It was the party’s sole win in the entire State.
The Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) were banking on their alliance to trump the BJP in Bengaluru. However, it was a rout with the BJP winning three seats — South, Central and North — which it has held since 2004. Voters gave decisive victories, with all winners garnering more than 50% of the votes.
The results saw the début of 28-year-old lawyer-turned-politician Tejasvi Surya in Bengaluru South constituency, who was filling in the shoes of the late Ananth Kumar, a six-time MP from the constituency. Despite concerns of inter-party rumblings over the BJP’s decision to deny ticket to Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, the late MP’s wife, Mr. Surya garnered over 62% of the popular vote winning by a margin of 3.31 lakh votes. It was the biggest margin of victory, more than what Ananth Kumar had garnered through six elections.