BJP’s SV Sankanur wins West Graduates constituency seat for the third time

SV Sankanur. File photo: Special edit.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate SV Sankanur registered victory in Karnataka Legislative Council elections from West Graduates’ constituency for the third time in a row defeating Congress candidate Mohan Limbikai by 9,323 votes.

The counting of votes for the biennial elections, held at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, began at 8 am on October 27 and ended at 2 am on October 28.

Mr. Sankanur got 33,711 first preference votes while Mr. Limbikai got 24,388 votes. Independent candidate Kantakumar R. finished third with 4055 votes.

The number of invalid votes of 10,245 cast in the alumni constituency exceeds the winning threshold (9,323).

Mr Mohan Limbikai, who wrested the constituency from the Congress in 2008 as a BJP candidate by defeating former minister HK Patil, had hoped to win it back for the Congress this time but failed.

Other candidates included the independent Dr. GH Imrapur who got 338 votes; Umesh Krishnappa Daivajna, 228; Nishant Shankar Bankapur, 143; Krishna H. Balegar of Karnataka Rashtra Samithi, 141; Abdul Mannan, 120; and Santosh Manohar Vernikar, 85. The remaining candidates got less than 100 votes. A total of 14 candidates fought.

After the first round of counting, Prof. Sankanur lead by 2,065 votes and increased in the next five rounds.

According to Returning Officer and Belagavi Regional Commissioner KM Janaki, who announced the result, said that out of 73,691 votes polled, 63,446 votes were declared valid and 10,245 were rejected. The census process was peaceful, she said.

Published – 28 Oct 2026 08:36 IST