Bengaluru, November 3: Bypolls were held today in Karnataka in three parliamentary constituencies - Shimoga, Bellary and Mandya - and two assembly segments - Ramanagaram and Jamkhandi. The State Election Commission has released the voter-turnout statistics, with maximum poling being recorded in Jamkhandi.

In Jamkhandi, where by-elections were necessitated due to the death of incumbent Congress MLA Siddu Nyamagouda, who met a fatal road accident on May 28, a voter-turnout of 81.58 per cent was recorded. Congress-JD(S), BJP Locked in Tight Bypoll Contest in Karnataka.

In Ramanagaram, the seat from where Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy's wife Anitha Kumaraswamy is contesting, 73.71 per cent voting was registered.

In the Lok Sabha constituency of Shimoga, vacated by BJP veteran BS Yeddyurappa for his son BS Raghavendra, 61.05 per cent polling was registered. In Ballari, the constituency vacated by mining baron and BJP leader B Sriramulu, 63.85 per cent voter-turnout was recorded.

The lowest amount of polling was witnessed in Mandya, a JD(S) bastion, where the bypoll was necessitated due to the incumbent MP CS Puttaraju getting elected to the legislative assembly in the recent elections. A total of 53.93 per cent voting was recorded, the SEC said.

Results of the by-elections will be declared on November 6, 2018. The BJP is confident of sending a major jolt to the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance in the state. Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, however, claimed that the saffron party would be left shocked as it would lose its bastion of Bellary and Shimoga.

"Since the secular votes have united, the BJP could face a wipe-out. This election was a semi-final to 2019 Lok Sabha polls," said JD(S) president HD Deve Gowda.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 03, 2018 07:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).