Bengaluru,  Karnataka's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday wrested the Basavakalyan Assembly seat in Bidar district from the opposition Congress.

"BJP's candidate Sharanu Salagar won in Basavakalyan by a margin of 20,629 votes, defeating his nearest rival Mala B. Narayanrao of Congress in a triangular contest," a poll official told IANS on phone.

Salagar polled 71,012 votes, with 48.17 per cent vote share while Mala Narayanrao secured 50,383 votes, with 34.17 per cent vote share.

Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), which fielded Sayed Yasrub Ali Quadri, got 11,402 votes, with 7.73 per cent vote share.

BJP's rebel candidate Mallikarjun Khuba, who was among the four Independents in the fray, got 9,457 votes, with 6.41 per cent vote share.

Of the 2,39,782 electorate in Basavakalyan, 1,47,647 voted, resulting in 61.58 per cent polling.

Of the total 1,47,432 votes, 834 were postal ballots, which were counted during the day-long process amid tight security and following Covid guidelines.

The vacancy in Basavakalyan was caused due to the death of Congress legislator B. Narayanrao due to Covid in September 2020. Mala is his widow.