Bengaluru, Nov 23 (IANS): Karnataka BJP on Saturday alleged that the Congress win in the Assembly by-elections was due to money power and not because of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah or Deputy CM and party's state chief D.K. Shivakumar.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka said the Congress has not got the crown by winning the by-election.

“As there are reasons for the victories, there are reasons for the defeat as well. The announcement of the candidate at the last minute to the Channapatna Assembly segment was a setback for the NDA,” Ashoka stated.

The contest of sons of Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy in Channapatna and former CM and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai in Shiggaon have also proved to be a setback for us, he stated.

“It seems Nikhil Kumaraswamy is not lucky. He has become “Abhimanyu” who could not come out of ‘Chakravyuh”. He had tasted defeat twice earlier,” Ashoka stated.

"The Congress party used money in the bypolls to ensure victory at any cost. The people have voted for the Congress thinking that they will face problems with regard to the development," Ashoka said.

“It is not a victory for CM Siddaramaiah or the Dy CM Shivakumar. It is a victory for the money power. The BJP will turn the defeat into victory in coming days,” he stated.

BJP state President B.Y. Vijayendra stated, “In Karnataka, we have suffered setbacks in all three seats. We had confidence that our candidates would win all seats. We are disappointed with the results. In the coming days, the leaders of BJP and JD(S) parties will hold a meeting and discuss the reasons for our setback.”

“We will analyze why we could not win those seats and honestly take up the corrective measures,” Vijayendra has stated.

The ruling Congress has won all three seats in the crucial Karnataka by-election. The BJP and JD(S) suffered a setback as they lost the Shiggaon and Channapatna seats they held earlier respectively.