Karnataka bypolls: Bagalkot records 54.82% turnout, Davanagere South 49.66% by 3 PM

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Apr 9, 2026: Voting in the Karnataka by-elections recorded a steady turnout, with Bagalkot registering 54.82% voter participation and Davanagere South 49.66% as of 3 pm on Thursday, according to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office.

The bypolls were necessitated following the demise of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti (Bagalkot) and Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Davanagere South).

While the ruling Congress is striving to retain both seats, the BJP is aiming to snatch them and deal a political blow, amid what it terms an “internal power struggle” within the ruling party.

In Bagalkot, over 2.59 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes across 319 polling stations, with nine candidates in the fray. Davanagere South has over 2.31 lakh voters spread across 284 polling stations, where 25 candidates are contesting.

The BJP has fielded former MLA and 2023 loser Veerabhadrayya Charantimath in Bagalkot and introduced a new face, Srinivas T Dasakariyappa, in Davanagere South. The Congress, meanwhile, has given tickets to family members of the deceased leaders — Umesh Meti, son of H Y Meti, in Bagalkot, and Samarth Mallikarjun, grandson of Shivashankarappa, in Davanagere South.

Samarth Mallikarjun is the son of minister S S Mallikarjun, who handles Davanagere district in the Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet, and MP Prabha Mallikarjun.

The BJP is eyeing gains to boost its momentum ahead of the 2028 Assembly elections, while for the Congress, retaining both constituencies is crucial to avoid any negative perception about the performance of the Siddaramaiah government.

In the 2023 Assembly elections, H Y Meti had defeated Charantimath by 5,878 votes in Bagalkot, while Shivashankarappa had won Davanagere South by a margin of 27,888 votes against BJP’s B G Ajay Kumar.