While the ruling BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ strategy of grabbing strong leaders from other parties did not meet with spectacular success, the Congress’s poor show came as some consolation. Of the five Assembly constituencies that went to bypolls on August 18, the BJP and JD(S) bagged two seats each, while the Congress won one. Four of these constituencies were earlier Congress seats.

The BJP made big gains by winning the Kollegal and Chitapur reserved seats, defeating Congress candidates backed by senior state leaders, a major downer for the BJP came when Housing Minister V Somanna — a political veteran recently inducted from the Congress — lost the Govindrajnagar seat to first-time Congress candidate Priya Krishna. The BJP’s efforts to win seats in the Vokkaliga heartland seat of Channapatna by using a former Congress MLA from the constituency also failed when film star and realtor C P Yogeshwar lost to the JD(S) candidate. Another seat in the Vokkaliga heartland, Ramanagara, was retained by the JD(S).

Meanwhile, the Congress suffered its biggest setbacks in Chitapur and Kollegal.

In Chitapur, first-time candidate Priyank Kharge — the son of Union Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge — lost to the BJP’s Valmiki Nayak. The senior Kharge had vacated the seat. In Kollegal, Congress candidate S Jayanna — backed by Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah — lost to BJP’s G M Nanjundaswamy.