BJP candidate CK Ramamurthy from Karnataka's Jayanagar seat defeated his rival Congress candidate Soumya Reddy by a modest margin of 16 votes on Saturday. Meanwhile, supporters of both the parties thronged the polling place throughout the night. This information was given by the officials themselves.

Protests swirl over demand for recount

Actually, Ramamurthy, who lost by more than 300 votes against Soumya Reddy of Congress, demanded a recount. If the postal votes were added in addition to the re-counting of the votes, Ramamurthy defeated Soumya Reddy. Several party leaders, including state Congress president DK Shivakumar and working President Ramalinga Reddy, protested the recount.

declared victorious by a narrow margin

An official of the state information department released a statement saying that officials declared the results late at night at the counting center of SSMRV College in Jayanagar. A tense situation was seen at the RV Institute of Management in Jayanagar at the polling venue. Along with DK Shivakumar, state unit working president Ramalinga Reddy also protested here. He alleged misuse of government machinery to benefit Ramamurthy. Election officials declared Ramamurthy the winner by a narrow margin of 16 votes. Along with this, the Congress won 135 seats in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly.