Karnataka elections : BJP leader Ramamurthy wins with thin majority of 16 votes!

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

The elections to 224 Assembly seats in the state was held on May 10 and the polled votes were taken up for counting on Saturday.

"The result was announced by the officials at the Counting Centre at S S M R V College in Jayanagar" late on Saturday, a state Information Department official said in a statement.After rounds of counting, Reddy was leading by 294 votes as she secured 57,591 votes and Ramamurthy 57,297.

As the victory margin was too narrow, BJPs Ramamurthy demanded the recounting of votes.The Election officials agreed to do so.After the recounting, Election officials declared Ramamurthy as the winner with a thin margin of 16 votes.Tension prevailed when 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..