Multi-lingual actress Ramya has won the Mandya seat with an impressive margin
Southern actress Ramya, who contested for the ruling Congress from Mandya constituency in the Karnataka by-elections, has won with an impressive margin of over 50,000 votes. She defeated Janata Dal Secular candidate C Putturaju.
Ramya is only the second Congress candidate after veteran actor-politician Ambareesh to win the Lok Sabha seat in Mandya, which is traditionally a bastion for the Janata Dal Secular because of the dominant Vokkaliga community in the area.
The other high profile contest in the by-elections saw Bangalore rural reverse a trend too. Anita Kumaraswamy, wife of the Janata Dal Secular president HD Kumaraswamy, lost by a margin of over 65,000 votes to the Congress' DK Suresh, brother of DK Shivakumar, who was one of the contenders for the Chief Minister's post when Congress defeated the BJP in the assembly elections in May.
Both seats in Mandya and Bangalore Rural were held by the Janata Dal Secular. Sources say Mr Kumaraswamy, who is also the Chief Opposition leader in the Karnataka Assembly, is extremely upset over the losses, and may quit as state party president. Mr Kumaraswamy resigned as MP of Bangalore rural after he won the state elections in May and chose to be an MLA.
"People are intelligent in giving their votes. They have understood that BJP and JDS are opportunistic parties and they taught these parties a lesson. They don't have any commitment. That is why the people have rejected them. We won against both of them," Congress leader and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said.
The BJP did not field candidates in both constituencies and supported the Janata Dal Secular candidates.
Today's win will be extra special for Ramya, whose foster father died the day she filed her nomination, raising doubts if she would contest the polls. However, the multi-lingual actress put up a brave face, and has now come out trumps.
Ramya has served in the Congress party's youth wing for a brief period before jumping into the race to become a Member of the Parliament. The actress is yet to announce her decision on her acting career post her big win today.