Shivamogga (PTI): BJP candidate B Y Vijayendra, the son of former Karnataka chief minister and Lingayat strongman B S Yediyurappa, on Saturday won the Shikaripura seat in his electoral debut by a margin of 11,008 votes.

Vijayendra got 81,810 seats, against 70,802 votes polled by Independent candidate and Congress rebel S P Nagarajagowda. The Congress’ Goni Malatesha was in third place with 8,101 votes, according to the Election Commission website.

In 2018, B S Yediyurappa won this seat comfortably, beating Malatesh by a margin of 35,397 votes.

Yediyurappa held the Shikaripura assembly constituency since 1983. He vacated this seat for his son following his retirement from active politics.

Though Vijayendra has held several positions in the BJP, this is his electoral debut. In 2020, he was appointed as the vice president of the BJP’s Karnataka unit.