Mandya Lok Sabha election result 2024 LIVE: HD Kumaraswamy wins Mandya, routs Star Chandru

Senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy has won the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency in southern Karnataka by a margin of over 2.87 lakh votes. His competitor Congress' Venkataramane Gowda aka Star Chandru secured around 5.67 lakh votes, according to early trends posted by the Election Commission of India. 

With this, Kumaraswamy has re-established the dominance of the JDS in Mandya, which is a Vokkaliga stronghold. The seat witnessed a nerve-wracking competition between an "outsider" and a "local" as the Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former CM HD Kumaraswamy and Congress' Star Chandru. 

Besides from being an insider versus outsider war, the Mandya contest is a battle for prestige both for the Congress and the JD(S). Mandya, a Vokkaliga dominated seat in Karnataka, is known for rivarly between the Congress and the JD(S) to get the upper hand. 

The BJP, on the other hand, is relatively weak but has been gaining support in the recent years. The Lok Sabha constituency has 8 assembly segments under it-- Malavalli (SC), Maddur, Melukote, Mandya, Shrirangapattana, Nagamangala, Krishnarajpete, and Krishnarajanagara. 

In the 2019 general elections, independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh won from Mandya with more than 7 lakh votes and a vote share of 51 per cent. She defeated Nikhil Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) by a margin of over 1 lakh votes. Nikhil Kumaraswamy garnered more than 5.77 lakh votes in Mandya.