After recounting, BJP wins Jayanagar seat by 16 votes taking final tally to 66

Bengaluru: BJP candidate C K Ramamurthy won the Jayanagar seat in Karnataka by a slender margin of 16 votes against his Congress rival Soumya Reddy on Saturday, officials said.

"The result was announced by the officials at the Counting Centre at S S M R V College in Jayanagar late tonight," a state Information Department official said in a statement.

As the victory margin was too narrow, Ramamurthy had demanded recounting of votes.

Tension prevailed at the R V Institute of Management in Jayanagar where the counting was taking place as the Congress state president D K Shivakumar along with state unit working president Ramalinga Reddy, who is also the father of Sowmya Reddy, and many other leaders staged a demonstration outside the polling booth, demanding justice.

They alleged misuse of government machinery to favour Ramamurthy.

Election officials declared Ramamurthy as the winner with a thin margin of 16 votes.

With this, the Congress has won 135 seats in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly. The BJP has won 66 seats and the JD(S) 19, according to the Election Commission website.