Yesvantpur (Karnataka) Assembly Bye-Election Results 2019 Live: BJP candidate S T Somashekar won the Yeshvanthapura seat by a margin of 27,699 votes defeating his nearest rival TN Gowda of the JD(S). Bye-election for Yesvantpur constituency in Karnataka were held on December 5. About 66.25 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the bypolls to 15 constituencies across nine districts of Karnataka. The seats fell vacant after 17 rebel MLAs from the Congress and JD(S) parties defected to the BJP in a bid to bring down the coalition government. The MLAs were subsequently disqualified from the House but were allowed by the Supreme Court to the contest bypolls. However, elections to two seats — Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Maski — were not held as separate election petitions challenging the results of the 2018 elections are still pending in the Karnataka High Court. Follow LIVE updates on Karnataka bypoll results In the 2018 Assembly elections in Karnataka, BJP won 104 seats, Congress 80, and the JD(S) 37 seats in the 224-member House. Three seats were won by others. After BJP failed to muster a majority, Congress and JD(S) forged an alliance to form the government, with HD Kumaraswamy becoming the Chief Minister. In July 2019, 14 MLAs from the Congress and three from the JD-S quit the Assembly; a trust vote on July 23 led to the collapse of Kumaraswamy’s government. The BJP staked claim to form a new government under Yediyurappa on July 26.
