Bengaluru, May 4 -- Congress surged dramatically ahead in the Karnataka Assembly bypolls on Monday, opening decisive leads in both Bagalkot and Davanagere South and putting the BJP on the defensive in two high-profile contests triggered by the deaths of senior Congress legislators.
The bypolls, seen as a crucial political test for the ruling Congress government and the opposition BJP, were necessitated following the demise of veteran Congress MLAs H Y Meti in Bagalkot and Shamanur Shivashankarappa in Davanagere South.
In Bagalkot, Congress candidate Umesh Meti stamped his authority on the contest, building a formidable lead of 17,205 votes over BJP rival and former MLA Veerabhadrayya Charantimath as counting progressed through successive ...