Bangalore : Two chief ministerial candidates were defeated this election: KPCC president G Parameshwara and BJP’s deputy chief minister KS Eshwarappa.

Parameshwara’s was the biggest upset for the Congress, despite the party getting an absolute majority. Sudhakar Lal of the JD(S) trounced him by a margin of 18,155 votes in Koratagere , in Tumkur district. The reasons are many — from not being seen regularly in the constituency to being inaccessible to the people. Lal is a sitting ZP member, and particularly popular among the youth.

The BJP, too, received a big jolt with Eshwarappa being pushed to third place in Shimoga City. Prasanna Kumar from the Congress won, while KJP’s Rudre Gowda was satisfied with second place. KJP leader Shobha Karandlaje lost badly to law minister S Suresh Kumar from Rajajinagar.

G Karunakara Reddy, the elder among the Bellary Reddy brothers, lost to MP Ravindra, son of former minister MP Prakash of the Congress from Harapanahalli in Davanagere district. In 2008, Reddy defeated Prakash by a huge margin and became a minister in the B S Yedyurappa cabinet.

JD(S) is also upset, not because it didn’t get the expected seats, but because Anitha Kumaraswamy, wife of former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy , lost badly to Independent and former minister C P Yogeshwar from Channapatna.

Big names like Murugesh R Nirani, M P Renukacharya, V Somanna, B N Bachhe Gowda, S A Ravindranath, Narasimha Naik, A Narayanaswamy, SA Ramdas and Revunaik Belamagi also lost. In the fight among the brothers in Sorab, Madhu Bangarappa (JDS ) defeated elder brother Kumar Bangarappa (Congress).

Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) managing director Ashok Kheny has upset the applecart of the JD(S) by defeating its deputy floor leader Bandeppa Kashempur from Bidar South. Former Union minister and senior leader of JD(S) Basannagouda Yatnal was defeated by Congress Makbul Bagawan from Bijapur City. Former ministers Krishna Palemar and C C Patil, involved in the porn controversy, were also defeated. -Times of India