1998 Indian general election in Karnataka

Last updated January 30, 2026

General elections were held in India on 16, 22 and 28 February 1998 to elect the members of the twelfth Lok Sabha. The elections were held three years ahead of schedule after the government led by Inder Kumar Gujral collapsed when the Indian National Congress (INC) withdrew its support in November 1997.^[1]

The result was another hung parliament, with no party or alliance able to muster a majority. However, Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party was able to form a coalition government led by the National Democratic Alliance with the outside support of the Telugu Desam Party. He was sworn in as Prime Minister with support from 272 of 543 MPs. However, his government collapsed on 17 April 1999 when the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam withdrew its support, after Vajpayee refused to meet the demands of its leader J. Jayalalithaa, namely halting the corruption cases against her and the sacking of the Tamil Nadu government led by her bete-noire M. Karunanidhi.^[2] This led to fresh elections in 1999.^[3]

The elections were the second consecutive general elections in which the party that received the most votes did not win the most seats.

Election schedule

Karnataka 1998 General Election Schedule by Constituency
Phase	Constituency	Polling date	Counting date	Declaration of result
Phase 1	Kanakapura	16 February 1998	02 March 1998	02 March 1998
	Bangalore North			02 March 1998
	Bangalore South			02 March 1998
	Mandya			02 March 1998
	Chamarajanagar			03 March 1998
	Mysore			02 March 1998
	Mangalore			02 March 1998
	Udupi			02 March 1998
	Hassan			02 March 1998
	Chikmagalur			02 March 1998
	Shimoga			02 March 1998
	Kanara			02 March 1998
	Dharwad South			02 March 1998
	Dharwad North			02 March 1998
	Belgaum			02 March 1998
	Chikkodi			02 March 1998
	Bagalkot			02 March 1998
	Bijapur			03 March 1998
Phase 2	Bidar	22 February 1998		02 March 1998
	Gulbarga			02 March 1998
	Raichur			02 March 1998
	Koppal			02 March 1998
	Bellary			03 March 1998
	Davangere			02 March 1998
	Chitradurga			03 March 1998
	Tumkur			02 March 1998
	Chikballapur			02 March 1998
	Kolar			02 March 1998

Voter Turnout

#	Constituency Name	Turnout
1	Bidar (SC)	51.33%
2	Gulbarga	59.00%
3	Raichur	50.62%
4	Koppal	59.92%
5	Bellary	62.61%
6	Davangere	70.06%
7	Chitradurga	66.20%
8	Tumkur	67.45%
9	Chikballapur	72.09%
10	Kolar (SC)	72.27%
11	Kanakapura	63.90%
12	Bangalore North	57.78%
13	Bangalore South	57.95%
14	Mandya	74.48%
15	Chamarajanagar (SC)	69.03%
16	Mysore	69.22%
17	Mangalore	73.66%
18	Udupi	67.38%
19	Hassan	73.74%
20	Chikmagalur	69.25%
21	Shimoga	70.87%
22	Kanara	67.27%
23	Dharwad South	67.65%
24	Dharwad North	63.99%
25	Belgaum	61.39%
26	Chikkodi (SC)	64.86%
27	Bagalkot	67.13%
28	Bijapur	57.82%

List of Political Parties

National Democratic Alliance

	Leader	Seats contested
Bharatiya Janata Party	Atal Bihari Vajpayee	18
Lok Shakti	Ramakrishna Hegde	10
Total		28

Indian National Congress

No.	Party	Flag	Symbol	Leader	Seats contested
1.	Indian National Congress			Sitaram Kesri	28

Janata Dal

Party		Flag	Symbol	Leader	Seats contested
	Janata Dal			H. D. Deve Gowda	28

List of Candidates

Source: ^[4]

Constituency		NDA			INC			JD
No.	Name	Party		Candidate	Party		Candidate	Party		Candidate
1	Bidar (SC)		BJP	Ramchandra Veerappa		INC	Gundappa Korwar		JD	Babu Honna Naik
2	Gulbarga		BJP	Basavaraj Patil Sedam		INC	Basawaraj Jawali		JD	Qamar ul Islam
3	Raichur		LS	Abdul Samad Siddiqui		INC	Venkatesh Nayak		JD	Raja Rangappa Naik
4	Koppal		LS	Agadi Virupakshappa Sanganna		INC	H. G. Ramulu		JD	Basavaraj Rayareddy
5	Bellary		LS	N. Thippanna		INC	K. C. Kondaiah		JD	Y. Nettakallappa
6	Davangere		BJP	G. M. Siddeshwara		INC	Shamanuru Shivashankarappa		JD	S.H. Patel
7	Chitradurga		LS	P. Kodandaramaiah		INC	C. P. Mudalagiriyappa		JD	Thippeswamy
8	Tumkur		BJP	S. Mallikarjunaiah		INC	R. Narayana		JD	C. N. Bhaskarappa
9	Chikballapur		LS	Jayanthi		INC	R. L. Jalappa		JD	C. Byre Gowda
10	Kolar (SC)		BJP	V. Hanumappa		INC	K. H. Muniyappa		JD	Balaji Channaiah
11	Kanakapura		BJP	M. Srinivas		INC	Dr. D. Premachandra Sagar		JD	H. D. Kumaraswamy
12	Bangalore North		LS	Jeevaraj Alva		INC	C. K. Jaffer Sharief		JD	C. Narayanaswamy
13	Bangalore South		BJP	Ananth Kumar		INC	D.P. Sharma		JD	V. Somanna
14	Mandya		BJP	H. Srinivas		INC	G. Made Gowda		JD	Ambareesh
15	Chamarajanagar (SC)		LS	Susheela Keshavamurthy		INC	Srinivasa Prasad		JD	A. Siddaraju
16	Mysore		BJP	C. H. Vijayashankar		INC	S. Chikkamadu		JD	G. T. Devegowda
17	Mangalore		BJP	V. Dhananjay Kumar		INC	Janardhana Poojary		JD	Mathanda Ramesh
18	Udupi		BJP	I. M. Jayarama Shetty		INC	Oscar Fernandes		JD	Mattar Rathnakar Hegde
19	Hassan		BJP	Susheela Shivappa		INC	H. C. Srikantaiah		JD	H. D. Deve Gowda
20	Chikmagalur		BJP	D. C. Srikantappa		INC	Veerappa Moily		JD	B. L. Shankar
21	Shimoga		BJP	Ayanur Manjunath		INC	D. B. Chandregowda		JD	B. P. Shivakumar
22	Kanara		BJP	Ananth Kumar		INC	Margaret Alva		JD	Bobati Udachappa Kheerappa
23	Dharwad South		LS	B.M. Menasinakai		INC	Prof. I.G. Sanadi		JD	Basavaraj Shivannanavar
24	Dharwad North		BJP	Vijay Sankeshwar		INC	D. K. Naikar		JD	Shankaranna Munvalli
25	Belgaum		BJP	Babagouda Rudragouda Patil		INC	Sidnal Shanmukhappa Basappa		JD	Shivanand H. Koujalagi
26	Chikkodi (SC)		LS	Ramesh Jigajinagi		INC	B. Shankaranand		JD	Chaugule Shakuntala Tukaram
27	Bagalkot		LS	Ajaykumar Sambasadashiv Sarnaik		INC	Siddu Nyamagouda		JD	H. Y. Meti
28	Bijapur		BJP	Patil Basanagouda Linganagouda		INC	M. B. Patil		JD	Patil Ravikant Shankareppa

Results

Result by Party/Alliance

Alliance/ Party				Popular vote			Seats
Alliance/ Party				Votes	%	±pp	Contested	Won	+/−
	NDA		BJP	56,86,151	26.95	2.10	18	13	7
			LS	24,25,799	11.50		10	3
		Total		81,11,950	38.45		28	16
	INC			76,42,756	36.22	5.93	28	9	4
	JD			45,76,244	21.69	13.22	28	3	13
	KVP			3,71,346	1.76		19	0
	Others			2,40,806	1.13		33	0
	IND			1,59,568	0.76		64	0
Total				2,11,02,670	100%	-	200	28	-

Detailed Results

Constituency		Winner					Runner-up					Margin
Constituency		Candidate	Party		Votes	%	Candidate	Party		Votes	%	Votes	%
1	Bidar (SC)	Ramchandra Veerappa		BJP	3,17,504	53.25	Babu Honna Naik		JD	1,32,871	22.28	1,84,633	30.97
2	Gulbarga	Basavaraj Patil Sedam		BJP	3,28,982	44.72	Qamarul Islam		JD	1,97,184	26.80	1,31,798	17.92
3	Raichur	A. Venkatesh Naik		INC	2,64,187	44.89	Raja Rangappa Naik		JD	1,85,909	31.59	78,278	13.30
4	Koppal	H. G. Ramulu		INC	2,89,681	40.94	Basavaraj Rayareddy		JD	2,06,559	29.19	83,122	11.75
5	Bellary	K. C. Kondaiah		INC	2,84,909	39.76	N. Thippanna		LS	2,21,171	30.86	63,738	8.90
6	Davangere	Shamanuru Shivashankarappa		INC	3,43,704	42.21	G. Mallikarjunappa		BJP	3,32,372	40.82	11,332	1.39
7	Chitradurga	C. P. Mudalagiriyappa		INC	3,21,930	42.88	P. Kodandaramaiah		LS	2,63,609	35.11	58,321	7.77
8	Tumkur	S. Mallikarjunaiah		BJP	3,27,312	45.50	R. Narayana		INC	2,56,125	35.60	71,187	9.90
9	Chikballapur	R. L. Jalappa		INC	3,60,761	44.41	C. Byre Gowda		JD	2,33,706	28.77	1,27,055	15.64
10	Kolar (SC)	K. H. Muniyappa		INC	3,04,261	39.62	Balaji Channaiah		JD	2,26,289	29.47	77,972	10.15
11	Kanakapura	M. Srinivas		BJP	4,70,387	39.00	Dr. D. Premachandra Sagar		INC	4,53,946	37.64	16,441	1.36
12	Bangalore North	C. K. Jaffer Sharief		INC	3,99,582	42.11	Jeevaraj Alva		LS	3,27,135	34.48	72,447	7.63
13	Bangalore South	Ananth Kumar		BJP	4,29,648	53.83	D.P. Sharma		INC	2,49,601	31.27	1,80,047	22.56
14	Mandya	Ambareesh		JD	4,31,439	54.97	G. Made Gowda		INC	2,50,916	31.97	1,80,523	23.00
15	Chamarajanagar (SC)	A. Siddaraju		JD	3,40,490	46.49	Srinivasa Prasad		INC	2,70,175	36.89	70,315	9.60
16	Mysore	C. H. Vijayashankar		BJP	3,55,846	42.10	S. Chikkamadu		INC	2,52,822	29.91	1,03,024	12.19
17	Mangalore	V. Dhananjay Kumar		BJP	3,41,362	48.15	Janardhana Poojary		INC	3,34,455	47.18	6,907	0.97
18	Udupi	I. M. Jayarama Shetty		BJP	3,41,466	50.83	Oscar Fernandes		INC	2,84,898	42.41	56,568	8.42
19	Hassan	H.D. Devegowda		JD	3,36,407	39.41	H. C. Srikantaiah		INC	3,04,753	35.70	31,654	3.71
20	Chikmagalur	D. C. Srikantappa		BJP	3,16,137	44.00	Veerappa Moily		INC	2,63,641	36.69	52,496	7.31
21	Shimoga	Ayanur Manjunath		BJP	3,52,277	45.40	D. B. Chandregowda		INC	1,92,370	24.79	1,59,907	20.61
22	Kanara	Ananth Kumar		BJP	3,63,051	50.74	Margaret Alva		INC	2,76,004	38.57	87,047	12.17
23	Dharwad South	B.M. Menasinakai		LS	3,28,333	46.61	Prof. I.G. Sanadi		INC	2,41,371	34.27	86,962	12.34
24	Dharwad North	Vijay Sankeshwar		BJP	3,39,660	50.15	D. K. Naikar		INC	2,10,459	31.07	1,29,201	19.08
25	Belgaum	Babagouda Rudragouda Patil		BJP	3,27,891	45.28	Sidnal Shanmukhappa Basappa		INC	2,30,834	31.87	97,057	13.41
26	Chikkodi (SC)	Jigajinagi Ramesh Chandappa		LS	3,59,760	52.99	B. Shankaranand		INC	2,28,522	33.66	1,31,238	19.33
27	Bagalkot	Ajaykumar Sambasadashiv Sarnaik		LS	3,52,795	49.73	Siddu Nyamagouda		INC	2,69,163	37.94	83,632	11.79
28	Bijapur	Patil Mallanagouda Basanagouda		INC	2,61,623	40.92	Patil Basanagouda Linganagouda		BJP	2,08,801	32.65	52,822	8.27

Source: ^[5]

Post-election Union Council of Ministers from Karnataka

#	Name	Constituency	Designation	Department	From	To
1	Ramakrishna Hegde	Rajya Sabha (Karnataka)	Cabinet Minister	Commerce	19 March 1998	13 Oct 1999	LS
2	Ananth Kumar	Bangalore South	Cabinet Minister	Civil Aviation	19 March 1998		BJP
2	Ananth Kumar	Bangalore South	Cabinet Minister	Tourism	30 Jan 1999		BJP

Notes

References

↑ "Government Falls, Indian Premier Quits; Coalition Splits Amid Gandhi Assassination Debate". The Washington Post. 29 November 1997. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
↑ "BJP's one-vote defeat in 1999 was narrowest in history". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 25 December 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
↑ "The 1999 No-Trust Motion That Former PM Vajpayee Lost by One Vote". The Quint. 20 July 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
↑ https://www.indiavotes.com/pc/closecontest/12/43#:~:text=Electors:%203%2C30%2C98%2C338,6%2C55%2C370
↑ https://old.eci.gov.in/files/file/4124-general-election-1998-vol-i-ii/

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Government Falls, Indian Premier Quits; Coalition Splits Amid Gandhi Assassination Debate". The Washington Post. 29 November 1997. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2019.

[2] "BJP's one-vote defeat in 1999 was narrowest in history". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 25 December 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2019.

[3] "The 1999 No-Trust Motion That Former PM Vajpayee Lost by One Vote". The Quint. 20 July 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.

[4] ttps://www.indiavotes.com/pc/closecontest/12/43#:~:text=Electors:%203%2C30%2C98%2C338,6%2C55%2C370

[5] ttps://old.eci.gov.in/files/file/4124-general-election-1998-vol-i-ii/

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]