Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the Congress had expected a better margin in Davanagere South. (File Photo)Karnataka’s ruling Congress on Monday appeared poised to retain both Assembly seats for which bypolls were held on April 9. Its candidate Umesh Meti won Bagalkot by a margin of 22,332 votes against the BJP’s Veeranna Charantimath, while Davanagere South turned out to be a close contest.Though BJP candidate Shrinivasa Dasakariyappa secured a lead of around 5,000 votes in Davanagere South in the first seven rounds of counting, the lead swung in favour of the Congress’s Samarth Mallikarjun in the remaining 17 rounds.The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) candidate polled close to 19,000 votes, reflecting the anger the Congress faced from Muslim voters over the candidate choice. Back in the 2023 Assembly elections, SDPI polled only 1,131 votes in the constituency.The disgruntlement among a section of Muslim Congress leaders over picking 27-year-old Samarth, a third-generation politician of the Shamanur Shivashankarappa family, appears to have affected the results. They had asked for a Muslim candidate, as almost a third of the electorate in the constituency belongs to that community.Disagreements over the choice of the party candidate resulted in allegations of “anti-party” activities and action against Congress MLCs Abdul Jabbar and Naseer Ahmed.And the counting of votes in Davanagere South faced two issues. The first, reported early on Monday, was that authorities misplaced the keys of a strong room where electronic voting machines (EVMs) were stored. The locks were broken before authorities could access the EVMs.The second issue was a technical glitch that three EVMs developed at the end of the counting process. Officials then decided to count the voter-verifiable paper trail (VVPAT) slips from the three machines. However, since the number of votes polled in the machines was fewer than the lead secured by Samarth, Congress workers started celebrations.Story continues below this adSpeaking to reporters, Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president D K Shivakumar said the party had expected a better margin in Davanagere South.“As of now, we are leading by around 4,900 votes. Results (of Davanagere South) are yet to be declared,” he said, adding that Samarth’s lead surpassed the votes that were yet to be counted.“In Bagalkot, our margin was less in 2023. There we have won by a huge margin,” he said.According to the Election Commission, the Congress candidate was leading in Davanagere South by 5,477 votes at the end of 23 rounds of counting. While Samarth has polled 69,302 votes, Dasakariyappa has received 63,825 votes. The SDPI’s Afsar Kodlipete has polled 18,857 votes.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:Karnataka bypolls