Congress beats BJP in Karnataka by-polls

India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party yesterday suffered a jolt when it failed to retain a parliamentary seat which has been its long-held bastion in the southern state of Karnataka as ruling Congress and its alliance partner Janata Dal (Secular) won two other parliamentary constituencies and won both the assembly seats that went to by-polls last weekend.

Out of the three parliamentary and two assembly seats, the BJP could win only one and the rest four were bagged by the Congress and Janata Dal (S) to make it a 4-1 verdict in favour of the state's ruling coalition.

The by-elections are seen as an indicator of the popular mood not only about the Congress-Janata Dal(S) coalition in Karnataka but also the Indian parliamentary elections next year.

The Congress-Janata Dal (S) alliance in Karnataka was cobbled after the assembly polls that threw up a fractured verdict that saw the two parties outsmarting the BJP, which had emerged as the single  largest party in the poll, to form the state government.

The BJP and the Congress-Janata Dal(S) combine mounted an all out offensive to breach each other's bastions before 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Of the three Lok Sabha seats that went to the by-polls, BJP had held Shivamogga and Ballari seats while Janata Dal (S) held Mandya seat.