<p>KR Puram has slipped away from the Congress hands, as Byrathi Basavaraju, who contested on a BJP ticket after defecting, piled on the humiliation for the Grand Old Party by comfortably winning the bypoll.</p>.<p>With the victory, Byrathi Basavaraju not only improved his tally in the by-poll, but also demonstrated his hold on the constituency dominated by Vokkaliga and OBC voters.</p>.<p>Struggling to find a suitable candidate, the Congress had fielded its MLC M Narayanaswamy at the last moment and campaigned on the narrative of ‘back-stabbing’ by Basavaraju.</p>.<p>However, that didn’t cut much ice with the voters. Basavaraju’s efforts in getting enough projects for the constituency and being accessible to people helped him sail through for a third consecutive time.</p>.<p>Timely defection of four Congress corporators in KR Puram also helped the BJP improve on its previous performance. The JD-S, which had contested only for namesake, was humiliated as its candidate C Krishnamurthy lost the deposit.</p>
<p>KR Puram has slipped away from the Congress hands, as Byrathi Basavaraju, who contested on a BJP ticket after defecting, piled on the humiliation for the Grand Old Party by comfortably winning the bypoll.</p>.<p>With the victory, Byrathi Basavaraju not only improved his tally in the by-poll, but also demonstrated his hold on the constituency dominated by Vokkaliga and OBC voters.</p>.<p>Struggling to find a suitable candidate, the Congress had fielded its MLC M Narayanaswamy at the last moment and campaigned on the narrative of ‘back-stabbing’ by Basavaraju.</p>.<p>However, that didn’t cut much ice with the voters. Basavaraju’s efforts in getting enough projects for the constituency and being accessible to people helped him sail through for a third consecutive time.</p>.<p>Timely defection of four Congress corporators in KR Puram also helped the BJP improve on its previous performance. The JD-S, which had contested only for namesake, was humiliated as its candidate C Krishnamurthy lost the deposit.</p>
