Ramanagara By-election LIVE: Kumaraswamy's Wife Anitha Wins in Crucial Seat

Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy's wife Anitha Kumaraswamy, the ruling combine’s candidate for the Karnataka by-election, has won the Ramanagara seat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had suffered a big jolt in the Ramanagara seat after its pick L Chandrashekhar withdrew from the contest, accusing state BJP leaders of “non-cooperation and disinterest”.

Two days before the Ramanagara bypoll, Chandrashekar decided to back the Congress-JDS joint candidate in the Karnataka bypoll.

None of the BJP leaders bothered to campaign for me and I felt I was being made a sacrificial goat in this bypoll battle," Chandrashekar said, blaming the BJP leaders.

Reacting to the development, HD Kumaraswamy said: "The BJP should blame themselves for this instead of blaming Congress-JDS. They forced him to join the BJP, then didn't fulfil the promises made to him. They didn't consult their party workers before giving him the ticket."

According to political pundits, a win for the JD(S) in Mandya, Ramanagara and Shimoga will be a temporary setback for the BJP and would harm the Congress in the long-run as party workers may switch sides to the saffron party to take on the JD(S). The ruling alliance is confident of a win in all five seats and has even declared that it will be the beginning of the end for the BJP in Karnataka. However, the BJP claims that the bypolls will favour them and will boost party prospects in the General Elections due early next year.