Varuna Election 2023 Result Highlights: Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday got a landslide victory in the Varuna constituency, defeating his nearest rival by a margin of 46,006 votes and entering the Karnataka Assembly for the ninth time. Varuna was a keenly watched constituency in the state owing to its Lingayat domination. A traditional stronghold of the Congress party, this time the constituency witnessed former BJP legislator from T Narasipur, Dr Bharathi Shankar, who is now a Janata Dal (Secular) candidate, contest against Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah and Minister for Housing V Somanna from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The seat has been a Siddaramaiah family bastion, with the former chief minister winning in 2008 and 2013, and his son Yathindra winning the seat in 2018 by defeating BJP candidate T Basavaraju by a margin of 58,616 votes and securing 52.53 per cent of the total votes polled. Out of the total electorate of 2,34,533, Varuna saw 1,98,740 people voting in the May 10 elections, taking the percentage to 84.74%, the highest ever since the segment was carved out of Chamundeshwari, T Narasipura and Nanjangud in 2008. The massive voter turnout is attributed to the electoral battle between opposition leader Siddaramaiah, a Kuruba, and BJP minister V Somanna, a Lingayat strongman.
Varuna Election Result 2023 Live: A tight contest between JDS candidate Dr Bharathi Shankar vs Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah vs Minister for Housing V Somanna from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Opposition leaders lauded the Congress for its victory in Karnataka and thanked the people of the state, saying that this win has showed that "Modi is not invincible".
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah said that Rahul Gandhi would become the country's PM in 2024. He said that the result will be a stepping stone for Congress victory in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Congress leader Siddaramaiah said that Bharatiya Janata Party's V Somanna will be defeated from both Varuna and Chamarajanagar constituencies as the results of the Assembly polls are declared later in the day.
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah said the party will come to power on its own by winning over 120 seats in the 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly and claimed the visits of BJP brass led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had no impact on the voters of the state.
Congress leader Siddaramaiah leads by 12759 votes against BJP’s V Somanna, 7471, from Varuna seat.
Congress leader and son of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Yathindra Siddaramiah expressed confidence that Congress will get an absolute majority and will come to power on its own. He also said for the interest of Karnataka his father should become the chief minister.
Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah is leading from the Varuna assembly constituency.
The Varuna constituency will witness Congress top brass and former CM Siddaramaiah fighting against BJP's V Somanna, who is a state minister and Bharathi Shankar of the JD(S). The former CM is hopeful of continuing his winning streak in this seat since 2008.
The electorate gender ratio in Varuna in 2023 is 975 female voters for every 1,000 male voters.
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In 2018, Varuna had a total of 2,13,812 voters which included general voters, NRI voters and service voters. During the 2018 elections, 1,74,457 people had voted and the turnout then was 79.2%. There are a total of 5.21 crore voters in Karnataka, which includes 2.59 crore women voters and 2.62 crore male voters. Of the total voters, 12.15 lakh voters are above the age of 80, 16,976 are above the age of 100, 4,699 are third gender and 9.17 lakh are first-time voters. The Election Commission has said that it will set up special booths for vulnerable tribal groups and transgenders. This year the voter turnout recorded was nearly 72 per cent.