Bangalore: Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, State president of the Bharatiya Janata Party D.V. Sadananda Gowda and State president of the Janata Dal (Secular) M.P. Prakash have said that Siddaramaiah's victory by a slender margin in the Assembly byelection from Chamundeshwari will not affect the survival of the coalition government.

Instead it will increase internal bickering in the Congress, according to the three leaders.

`No impact'

Mr. Yediyurappa said the result would have no impact on the Government. It would only increase the internal strife in the Congress.

The large number of votes polled by the BJP-backed Janata Dal (Secular) candidate, Shivabasappa, indicated voter satisfaction with the Government.

The Government would complete its tenure of 40 months without any hurdles, he said.

Mr. Sadananda Gowda said Mr. Siddaramaiah's victory would not result in political polarisation in the State. The outcome of a byelection had never led to drastic political changes.

`Only scraped through'

He said Mr. Siddaramaiah should introspect about his narrow margin of victory as he had won the 2004 elections by nearly 40,000 votes.

"Despite having presented six budgets and with the backing of AHINDA and the Congress, he could scrape through with a lead of just 200-odd votes," Mr. Sadananda Gowda said.

Mr. Prakash echoed this sentiment.

Mr. Siddaramaiah had scraped through against Mr. Shivabasappa, a low-profile candidate, which spoke of his dwindling electorate base.

The result would not have any impact on the stability of the Government, the Home Minister said.

`Not a snub'

He did not agree with the view that the defeat of the party candidate was a snub to the coalition partners and the Government.

Allegation

On the allegation that liquor and money influenced voters, Mr. Prakash said the voters were intelligent and accepted gifts but cast their votes for the candidate they liked.

In the process, "middlemen" made a fortune, he added.

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