Bengaluru, India’s IT hub, has elected its first-ever woman Lok Sabha member. BJP leader and Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje secured a decisive victory in the Bengaluru North constituency, defeating Congress candidate M V Rajeev Gowda by a margin of 2,59,476 votes.
The 57-year-old Karandlaje, who replaced D V Sadananda Gowda as the BJP candidate in this long-standing party stronghold, garnered 9,86,049 votes. Gowda, a national spokesperson for the Congress and a former Rajya Sabha member contesting Lok Sabha polls for the first time, received 7,26,573 votes, according to the Election Commission.
During her campaign, Karandlaje, the Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, sparked controversy by alleging that a person from Tamil Nadu was behind the IED blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1. The ruling DMK party in Tamil Nadu demanded action against her, leading to her being booked for a model code violation over her remarks.
Karandlaje’s campaign leaned heavily on the Modi factor, while Gowda focused on the five guarantee schemes launched by the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government, hoping these would translate into electoral success.
Karandlaje had previously won the Udupi-Chikmagalur seat in both the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
