Mangaluru: The Congress won the third constituency of the Tannirupantha Gram Panchaya by-election held on March 29 in Dakshina Kannada district. Surprisingly, the BJP in this constituency has indirectly supported the Congress-backed candidate, by not fielding a candidate from their party. The Congress’s candidate, Naveen won after securing 498 votes, while the candidate fielded by SDPI, Ashraf Karaya admitted defeat with 162 votes in the Panchayat election.
Naveen had been previously victorious in the 1st and 3rd wards of the Gram Panchayat elections held last December. The resignation of the third ward had created a vacant seat, in which the by-election was held on March 29. While Naveen received 347 votes in the last election, this time the candidate substituting him received 499 votes. The BJP-backed candidate had gotten 220 votes in the last election. But this time, without fielding any candidate, the BJP has helped Congress secure victory. The SDPI had received 176 votes last time, whereas this time the party secured 169 votes. While a total of 747 voters exercised their right to vote in the last election, this time only 674 votes have been recorded.
With today’s result, the Congress-run Tannirupantha Panchayat has strengthened its hold further.