Chikmagalur election results 2023: BJP’s CT Ravi loses to former aide, Congress leader HD Thammaiah

Chikmagalur election results 2023 News: BJP national general secretary CT Ravi lost the Chikmagalur Assembly Constituency to his former aide and Congress leader HD Thammaiah.

BJP national general secretary CT Ravi lost the Chikkamagaluru Assembly Constituency to his former assistant HD Thammaiah, who ran on a Congress ticket. Thammaiah is a member of the Lingayat group and formerly served as the head of the Chikkamagaluru Municipal Council.

When Congress announced Thammaiah’s candidature for the polls, there was widespread opposition to the same. However, Tammaiah emerged victorious in the close contest by securing 60101 votes while CT Ravi got 52201 votes.

Other candidates from the constituency were Eregowda from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Thimmashetty contesting from the Janata Dal (Secular).

H D Thammaiah, who served as C T Ravi's assistant in the BJP before joining the Congress, is a strong contender put out by the party. Thammaiah, if elected to office, will become Chikmagalur's second Lingayat MLA following C M S Shastri in 1967. 

Historically, the Chikmagalur constituency has been a stronghold of the Congress party as former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi even contested and won the 1978 Lok Sabha election from this constituency. The trend continued in Assembly elections until 2004, when the BJP began winning.

By a margin of 26,314 votes, BJP candidate CT Ravi defeated Congress candidate Shankar BL to win the Chikmagalur Assembly Election in 2018. Since then, Ravi has remained in the lead, but the stakes are high as everyone waits impatiently to see if the Opposition can turn the tables in 2023.

The Lingayat group, which has about 40,000 voters, is well-represented in Chikmagalur by H D Thammaiah, who is a member of this community, according to the reports. The Vokkaliga community, from which C T Ravi is originally from, has about 20,000 voters in the district.