Ruling Congress candidate K. Venkatesh today won the elections to Periyapatna Assembly seat in Karnataka, defeating JDS nominee K. Mahadev by 2,088 votes.
The former Minister polled 62,045 votes and Mahadev secured 59,957, as results were declared after counting today, official sources said.
The poll in this segment in Mysore, the home district of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, was postponed to May 28 from May 5, when elections to all other constituencies were held, following the death of BJP candidate Sannamoge Gowda on April 29.
With this victory, the Congress tally in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly increased to 122, while the JDS and BJP have a strength of 40 members each.
Senior Congress leader Kagodu Thimmappa was today elected Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly unopposed.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah proposed his name and it was seconded by Higher Education Minister R V Deshpande. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra also proposed the candidature of the 82-year-old MLA, which was backed by C.S. Nadagouda.
After a voice-vote, pro-tem Speaker Malikayya Guttedar announced that Thimmappa, a former Minister who was elected from Sagara in Shimoga district in the May 5 elections, was elected to the post unanimously.
Siddaramaiah, Leader of Opposition H.D. Kumaraswamy (JDS) and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar (BJP) and others who spoke, congratulated the new Speaker.