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A list of BJP candidates who are leading: Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur), Anand Singh (Vijayanagara), Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), B.C. Patil (Hirekerur), Shrimant Patil (Kagwad), K. Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura), Mahesh Kumthalli (Athani), Arun Kumar Guttur (Ranebennur), Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout), Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram), S.T. Somasekhar (Yeshwanthpura) and Narayan Gowda (K.R. Pete).
In Yellapur, Chikkaballapura and Mahalakshmi Layout, the BJP—with candidates Shivaram Hebbar, K. Sudhakar and K. Gopalaiah—had leads over 30,000 votes. In Vijayanagara, KR Puram and Yeshwanthpura, the BJP—with candidates Anand Singh, Byrathi Basavaraj and S.T. Somasekhar—led by over 20,000 votes.
The Congress party's Rizwan Arshad led in minority-dominated Shivaji Nagar, and H.P. Manjunath has a mammoth lead in Hunasuru—around 40,000 votes.
The JD(S), which fielded candidates in 14 constituencies, has only a single reason for cheer. The BJP rebel and independent candidate Sharath Bachegowda, whom the party decided to support in Hoskote, has a lead of around 10,000 votes.
The stability of B.S. Yediyurappa government will be at stake if the party fails to win at least six of the 15 seats. At present, BJP holds 105 seats in the assembly with a current strength of 207, and has the support of independent MLA and minister H. Nagesh.
Ahead of the polls, the BJP had faced dissidence within. At Hoskote, Bachegowda rebelled (now a candidate supported by the JD(S)), leading to to his expulsion, while, in Kagwad, BJP's Raju Kage joined Congress and is now its candidate. There was rebellion in Vijayanagara and Gokak too.
Congress leader and former minister D.K. Shivakumar virtually conceded that the Congress had lost the bypolls. Shivakumar was quoted by ANI as saying, "We have to agree with the mandate of the voters of these 15 constituencies. People have accepted the defectors. We have accepted defeat; I don't think we have to be disheartened." Shivakumar also emphasised that the bypolls were different from general elections. He declared the "Congress has a stronghold in Karnataka and it will not vanish."
