Bangalore, March 21 (IANS): The Congress on Wednesday wrested the Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka from the scandal-hit ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), adding to the woes of Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda.
Congress nominee K Jayaprakash Hegde, who had lost to Gowda in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, defeated the BJP's V Sunil Kumar by over 45,000 votes in the bypoll held March 18.
He polled 398,723 votes to Kumar's 352,999. Janata Dal-Secular's SL Bhoje Gowda was far behind with around 70,000 votes.
The bypoll followed Gowda vacating the seat after becoming chief minister Aug 4 last year, succeeding his corruption-scarred party colleague BS Yeddyurappa.
The defeat for the BJP comes as it battles dissent by a section of the legislators led by Yeddyurappa, who wants to unseat Gowda.
