The smile on the face of the Congress after it regained its lost citadel — Ballari Parliamentary Constituency — has turned into a scowl within six months.
For, it was confident of retaining the seat, which it had wrested from the BJP after 15 years when V.S. Ugrappa emerged victorious in the by-elections about six months ago (November 2018) by a thumping majority (2.43 lakhs). Added to that were the six Assembly segments held by it.
In contrast, the Congress suffered a severe set-back in the just concluded elections to the Lok Sabha when the BJP gained considerable lead in at least three Assembly segments held by the Congress and in Kudligi, held by BJP (22,262).
BJP candidate Y. Devendrappa polled a total of 6,16,388 votes defeating the Congress candidate [Mr. Ugrappa] by a margin of 55,707 votes.