Congress candidate Jagadish Shettar loses to BJP’s Mahesh Tenginakai by 34,289 votes

Hubballi: Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who contested on a Congress ticket after the BJP denied him a nomination for the Assembly polls, was defeated in the Hubballi-Dharwad (Central) seat by a margin of 34,289 votes.

The BJP’s Mahesh Tenginakai, a debutant in electoral politics, defeated Shettar who is a six-time MLA. The former chief minister had quit the BJP on April 16 and resigned as Hubli-Dharwad (Central) MLA after being denied a ticket for the assembly elections.

Shettar got 60,775 votes, while Tenginkai bagged 95,064 votes in the high-stake battle. JD(S) candidate Siddalingeshgowda Mahanthavadeyar was in third place with 513 votes. As many as 1,251 NOTA votes were cast in the seat.