BJP wins Hassan after 19 years

Hassan: The BJP nominee for Hassan, Preetham Gowda who contested the assembly election for the first time, succeeded in defeating Janata Dal(S) nominee and sitting MLA H.S. Prakash by a margin of 13,006 votes giving a boost to party prospects in a Vokkaliga dominated district. 

Preetham polled 63,348 votes while Prakash secured 50,342 votes and Congress nominee H.K. Mahesh could manage to get only 38,101 votes. For Mahesh, it was the second straight defeat in the seat. 

This is the second win for the BJP in Hassan, a stronghold of the JD(S). Previously, the BJP nominee and former minister Hanume Gowda had won the seat in 1999.