More than a dozen former bureaucrats and police officers who hoped of making it to the 14th Assembly failed to register a win. Even former police officer and sitting MLA B C Patil was trounced in the Hirekerur constituency, which had sent him twice to the Lower House. Former minister C Chennigappa, a former cop, too was humbled at the hustings in Doddaballapur constituency for the second time in a row.
Former IAS officer I R Perumal who contested on the KJP ticket from the Shivajinagar constituency in Bangalore lost his deposit by polling a paltry 2,468 votes. He was positioned fourth in the list of contenders.
Giving him company is the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate from Koratagere (SC) seat Bulla Subbarao, another former IAS officer who secured only 958 votes in a contest which saw even the State Congress president, G Parameshwara, lose.
Another ex-IAS officer M V Veerabhadraiah, contesting on the JD(S) ticket in Madhugiri came second to the Congress candidate by polling 60,659 votes. The victorious candidate K N Rajanna secured 75,086 votes. In Shikaripura, contesting against former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, former KAS officer H T Baligar could muster only 15,007 votes and came a distant third.
Two retired IPS officers, former Additional Director General of Police Subhash Bharani and former Inspector General of Police M C Narayana Gowda, both from JD(S), did no better and ended up being the second runner-up in their respective constituencies. While Gowda polled a respectable 24,382 votes in Chickpet, Bharani got a meagre 7,418 votes in Gandhinagar. Former DIG (Wireless) T R Naik of the BJP also lost the polls from Lingsugur constituency in Raichur district.
B K Shivaram, retired Assistant Commissioner of Police and elder brother of AICC General Secretary B K Hariprasad, lost to the BJP’s Dr C N Ashwath Narayan in Malleswaram constituency by 21,066 votes. He garnered a respectable 36,553 votes. Former Deputy Commissioner of Police G A Bava, who contested from Chamarajpet as the Congress candidate, came a distant second after the winner B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan of the JD(S).
Cheluvaraju of the JD(S), a former police officer, could only secure 2,686 votes which placed him in third position in the Varuna constituency, where Congress leader Siddramaiah decimated the opposition by winning the seat with an impressive margin of 29,000 votes. In Gurmitkal, another former police officer, Girish Mattannavar contesting on the BJP ticket lost to sitting MLA Baburao Chinchansoor (Congress) and polled 9,795 votes.
