In 2019, 17 MLAs crossed party lines into the BJP in Karnataka, leading to the fall of the Congress-JD(S) government.
Four years later, 15 of them were in the fray again for a seat in the Karnataka Assembly. Two others did not contest.
Of them, nine — including the son of the incumbent MLA from Vijayanagara — lost badly.
Also read: Big Congress win busts BJP electoral prowess myths
Brought down a government
Of the 17 MLAs who defected in 2019, 13 were from the Congress, three from the JD(S), and one from the Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janata Party (KPJP).
The MLAs played a key role in toppling the Congress-JD(S) alliance government when they pledged their allegiance to the BJP.
They also brought the saffron party back at the helm under the leadership of BS Yediyurappa, who became the chief minister.
This year, the BJP gave tickets to 14 out of the 17 defectors to contest the 10 May Karnataka Assembly polls, whose results were announced on Saturday, 13 May.
Veteran politician AH Vishwanath quit the BJP and switched back to the Congress in April. However, he did not contest the elections.
The other defector who did not contest was Roshan Baig, who used to run from the Shivajinagar seat in Bengaluru
R Shankar joined the JD(S) in April, contested the election from the Ranebennur seat on the party’s ticket, and lost.
The Congress gained a simple majority by winning a record 135 Assembly seats, while BJP was reduced to 66 seats.
The JD(S) — which has often played kingmaker — settled for 19 seats. Two independents also won, as did a sole candidate from the Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha and the Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha.
Related: Landslide victory for Congress in Karnataka; ‘Modi magic’ fails
Performance of the defectors
Of the 14 Assembly seats contested by the defectors on a BJP ticket, the Congress won seven, the BJP won six, and JD(S) won one seat.
Pratapgouda Patil (Maski)
In the 2018 Assembly polls, Pratapgouda Patil won the Maski seat on a Congress ticket. Contesting on a BJP ticket this time, he lost against the Congress’ Basavan Gouda Turvihal by a margin of 13,053 votes.
Patil managed to poll 66,513 votes and Turvihal grossed 79,566 votes, which amounts to 52.76 percent of the total vote share.
Patil also faced defeat in the 2019 Assembly by-polls.
KC Narayana Gowda (KR Pete)
BJP leader KC Narayana Gowda failed to retain his seat, losing badly to JD(S) candidate HT Manju. Gowda slipped to third place in the 2023 Assembly polls.
The JD(S) got 80,646 votes, the Congress garnered 58,302 votes, and the BJP got only 38,151 votes. Incumbent minister Gowda lost by a margin of 42,495 votes.
He was one of the JD(S) leaders who helped the BJP topple the alliance government.
With a victory in the 2019 Assembly by-polls, he helped the BJP register its first win in the Mandya district.
However, this Cabinet minister in both the Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai governments failed to win the heart of the voters this time.
Also read: Modi, Shah campaigned in 47 segments; BJP won only 15
N Muniratna (RR Nagar)
The BJP’s RR Nagar candidate N Muniratna, who is also a businessman and film producer, registered a victory this time against the Congress candidate H Kusuma, the spouse of a late IAS officer DK Ravi, by a margin of 11,842 votes.
Muniratna won the RR Nagar seat on a Congress ticket in the 2018 Assembly polls.
He moved to the BJP in 2019 and won the Assembly by-polls against Kusuma by a huge margin of 57,672 votes.
He was a Cabinet minister in the BJP government between 2019 and 2023.
Shrimant B Patil (Kagwad)
Shrimant B Patil from the Kagawad seat was one among the 17 defectors that quit the Congress and joined the BJP. The saffron party fielded him from the same seat in the 2023 Assembly polls.
He lost against the Congress’ Bharamgouda A Kage by a margin of 8,827 votes, having polled 75,560 votes.
He had won in the 2019 Assembly by-polls and was also a Cabinet minister in the erstwhile Yediyurappa government.
Related: In Bengaluru Urban’s 28 segments, BJP wins 16, Congress 12
Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani)
The BJP’s Mahesh Kumathalli suffered a major defeat against the Congress’ Laxman Savadi, a former BJP leader who recently joined the party, in the Athani assembly constituency this time.
Kumathalli lost by a huge margin of 76,122 votes against his rival Savadi. The Congress got 1,31,404 votes and the BJP got only 55,282 votes.
With the support of Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, Kumathalli defeated Savadi — then a BJP candidate — on a Congress ticket in the 2018 Assembly polls.
With the support of Savadi, the BJP managed to win in the 2019 Assembly by-polls.
Savadi had openly opposed Kumathalli’s candidacy on a BJP ticket in this election. After Jarkiholi reportedly put pressure, the BJP high command gave the ticket to Kumathalli and denied it to Savadi.
An upset Savadi pledged allegiance to the Congress and registered a thumping victory from Athani in the recently concluded Assembly polls.
Also Read: #SouthKicksOutBJP trends on Twitter after Karnataka result
Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Pura)
BJP’s KR Pura representative Byrathi Basavaraj has registered a comfortable victory against the Congress candidate DK Mohan by a margin of 24,301 votes in the 2023 Assembly polls.
Basavaraj is one among the six defectors that retained the seat. He had grossed 1,39,925 votes. Mohan got 1,15,624 votes.
Basavaraj had also won in the 2019 Assembly by-polls from the same seat. He was a Cabinet minister in both the Yediyurappa and Bommai governments.
BC Patil (Hirekerur)
Cop-turned-politician and BJP leader BC Patil, who was one among the defectors from the alliance government, lost against the Congress candidate UB Banakar by a margin of 15,020 votes in the 2023 Assembly polls.
He had won the 2018 Assembly polls on a Congress ticket from Hirekerur Assembly seat. He jumped to the BJP in 2019 and also won the Assembly by-polls in the same year.
He also served as the Cabinet minister in the Yediyurappa and Bommai government.
K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout)
BJP’s Mahalakshmi Layout nominee K Gopaliah registered a thumping victory against the Congress candidate Keshavamurthy S by a margin of 51,165 votes in the Assembly polls.
He was one among the three JD(S) MLAs who joined hands with the Congress leaders to topple the alliance government in 2019. He moved to the BJP and won the 2019 Assembly by-polls.
He was also a Cabinet minister in the Yediyurappa and Bommai governments.
Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak)
The BJP’s senior ST leader Ramesh Jarkiholi has registered a comfortable victory against the Congress’ Mahantesh Kadadi by a margin of 25,412 votes from the Gokak Assembly seat.
Jarkiholi had grossed 1,05,313 votes and Kadagi got 79,901 votes.
Jarkiholi had played a pivotal role in toppling the Congress JD(S) coalition government in 2019. He had won in the 2019 Assembly by-polls from the same seat.
He was a minister in the Yediyurapp and Bommai governments. He resigned from the Cabinet post after a private video of him became public in March 2021.
ST Somashekar (Yeshvanthapura)
In the a fight, BJP leader ST Somashekar won against his rival JD(S) candidate TN Javaraya Gowda by a margin of 15,118 votes in the Yeshvanthapura Assembly seat.
BJP grossed 1,69,149 votes and the JD(S) managed to get 1,54,031 votes.
Somashekar is one among those Congress legislators that toppled the alliance government and helped BJP to come back to power in 2019. He had also won in the Assembly by-polls and was the Cabinet minister in both Yediyurappa and Bommai governments.
Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur)
In a relief to the party in Uttara Kannada’s Yellapur, BJP leader Shivaram Hebbar, one of the defectors, won against the Congress nominee AVS Patil by a wafer-thin margin of 4,004 votes in the 10 May Assembly polls.
He had won this seat on a Congress ticket in the 2018 Assembly polls. He pledged allegiance to BJP in 2019. He was also elected in the Assembly by-polls. He was also a Cabinet minister in the Yediyurappa and Bommai governments.
Dr K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapur)
In a shocking result, BJP leader Dr K Sudhakar lost against the Congress’s new face Pradeep Eshwar by a margin of 10,642 votes from Chikkaballapur Assembly seat.
Eshwar garnered 86,224 votes, where Sudhakar managed to get 75,582 votes.
He was representing the segment since the 2013 Assembly polls.
In the 2018 Assembly polls, he had won the seat on a Congress ticket. He was also one among the Congress defectors who jumped to BJP in 2019 and also emerged victorious in the Assembly by-polls later that year.
He was prominent face in the Cabinet between 2019 to 2023.
MTB Nagaraj (Hosakote)
One the wealthiest leaders of the BJP, MTB Nagraj, who is also a film producer, lost to the Congress’s incumbent MLA Sharath Bachegowda by a mere margin of 5,075 votes in the Hosakote Assembly seat.
Nagaraj got 1,02,145 votes. Bachegowda got 1,07,220 votes, which amounts to the 50.13 percent of the total exercised votes.
In the 2018 Assembly polls, Nagaraj had won the seat on a Congress ticket. He moved to the BJP in 2019 and lost in the Assembly by-polls that year to Bachegowda. The BJP then made him an MLC and also inducted him into the Yediyurappa and Bommai Cabinets.
Anand Singh (Vijayanagar)
BJP’s incumbent minister Anand Singh had sacrificed his seat to his son Siddharath Singh in the 2023 Assembly polls. His son failed to get the mandate from the people of the Vijayanagar.
He lost against the Congress’ HR Gaviyappa by a margin of 33,723 votes. The Congress candidate got 1,04,863 votes, where BJP managed to get 71,140 votes.
Anand Singh was one among the defectors who played a key role in toppling the alliance government in 2019. He also got a separate district for Vijayanagar, which was carved out from Ballari.
Singh was also Cabinet minister in the BJP government between 2019 and 2023.
R Shankar (Ranebenur)
R Shankar, contesting on a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ticket, lost badly in the Ranebennur Assembly seat.
He had won the seat on KPJP ticket in the 2018 Assembly polls. He had withdrawn his allegiance to the coalition government and announced support to the BJP. He was disqualified as an MLA in 2019.
The BJP then made him a member of legislative council. He was the Cabinet minister in the Yediyurappa government. After the party denied him ticket, he resigned for the MLC post and primary membership of the BJP in April 2023.
He then switched loyalty to NCP and lost badly in the Assembly polls.
