Congress maintains firm grip on the state

NT ANALYSIS

- M. A. Siraj

A clean sweep of three seats by Congress in Karnataka where bypoll was held on November 13 would be seen as a morale-booster for the party and the government which had come under constant assault in recent months in the wake of alleged MUDA and Valmiki Corporation scams.

Of the three, the party retained one and wrested two from its rivals, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal Secular.

Not alone this, the party can take credit for bearding the lion in its den by heaping defeat on Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the third-generation scion of the redoubtable Devegowda family.

The seat had been vacated by Nikhil's father and Union Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy following his election to the Lok Sabha from neighbouring Mandya.

The seats in contention were Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur.