Shimoga Election Results 2024 LIVE: BJP rebel KS Eshwarappa loses by 1.8L votes to BJP's BY Raghavendra

The Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency, a BJP stronghold, saw a high voter turnout of 78.33% in the 2024 elections. Key candidates included BJP's BY Raghavendra, Congress's Geetha Shivarajkumar, and rebel BJP candidate KS Eshwarappa running as an independent. Previously, Raghavendra and Yediyurappa won the 2019 and 2014 elections respectively, maintaining BJP’s dominance in the region.

The Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency is one of the prominent seats in Karnataka, known as the stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since the time of former CM BS Yediyurappa. The Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency saw voting in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 7, 2024. The voter turnout was an impressive share of 78.33%. The counting began on Tuesday at 8 am on June 04, 2024. 

The key candidates of Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency are,

• BY Raghavendra: Bharatiya Janata Party
• Smt. Geetha Shivarajkumar: Indian National Congress
• KS Eshwarappa as an Independent (BJP rebel) candidate

The latest trends say that BJP rebel candidate KS Eshwarappa has lost by a huge margin of 1.8 lakh votes to incumbent MP BY Raghavendra, who has secured a victory for the second time. 

2019 Lok Sabha election results;

In the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency, B Y Raghavendra from the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged victorious in the 2019 elections, securing 7,29,872 votes and a commanding lead of 2,23,360 votes, with a vote share of 56.86%. S.madhubangarappa of the Janata Dal (Secular) was the runner-up, securing 5,06,512 votes, with a vote share of 39.46%.

2014 Lok Sabha election results;

In the 2014 Shimoga Lok Sabha elections, B. S. Yeddyurappa from the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged victorious with 6,06,216 votes, securing a substantial lead of 3,63,305 votes. His closest rival, Manjunath Bhandary of the Indian National Congress, received 2,42,911 votes, while Geetha Shivarajkumar from the Janata Dal (Secular) secured 2,40,636 votes. Yeddyurappa won with a vote share of 54.03%, significantly ahead of the other candidates.

This year, Shimoga's Lok Sabha constituency is in the limelight because of its newly declared independent candidate, KS Eshwarappa. The former BJP Deputy Chief Minister, during Jagadish Shettar's tenure, made headlines for rebelling against BJP's BY Raghavendra. He opted to run as an Independent after the BJP refused a ticket to his son K E Kantesh, who sought candidacy for the neighbouring Haveri Lok Sabha constituency. INC candidate Smt. Geetha Shivarajkumar holds a noteworthy background. She is the daughter-in-law of the late Sandalwood actor, Dr Rajkumar, daughter of former CM S Bangarappa, and the wife of actor Shiva Rajkumar.