Bengaluru: Voters of Chikkaballapura foiled the hattrick attempt of former union minister and sitting MP M. Veerappa Moily by electing Bharatiya Janata Party’s veteran leader B.N. Bacche Gowda by a huge margin of 1,82,110 votes.
Moily had won in 2009 and 2014 from the same Lok Sabha constituency. In the previous election, Bacche Gowda's attempt to defeat Mr Moily failed primarily because H.D. Kumaraswamy who contested as the Janata Dal (Secular) candidate, ensured a division of the dominant Vokkaliga votes helping the former Chief Minister to sail through.
The Congress had pinned a lot of hope on Moily but even his promise to bring water to the parched areas of Chikkaballapura from the much-publicised Yettinahole project did not impress voters.
While Congress legislators did slog for Moily, there was a tepid response from Janata Dal (Secular) legislators. In the previous elections, Jagan Mohan Reddy of the YSR Congress party had campaigned for Moily who felt he would bring in the Reddy votes.
But this time, Jagan could not campaign for him because of the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh.
