Bengaluru, May 28: Karnataka Congress MLA Siddu Bhimappa Nyamagouda died in a road accident near Tulasigeri in the wee hours of Monday. The legislator was returning to Bagalkot from Goa, when the road mishap took place.

The accident was first reported by news agency ANI at around 6:30 am. Nyamagouda was rushed to the nearest hospital after sustaining the injuries. He was, however, declared dead on arrival.

Nyamagouda, 63, had won the seat of Jamkhandi in the recently contested Karnataka assembly elections 2018. The Congress leader survived with a narrow lane victory over BJP's Kulkarni Shrikant Subrao. He wrested the seat by a margin of 2,795 votes.

With his death, the legislative strength of Congress in Karnataka assembly has dropped to 77. His demise would also necessitate bypolls to be conducted in the Jamkhandi constituency.

Meanwhile, Karnataka is also witnessing a bypoll in the Rajarajeshwari Nagar, also referred to as RR Nagar seat. Polls were deferred in the assembly segment earlier in the month as the Election Commission had seized over 9,000 fake voter ID cards, along with two trunks full of fake voter ID slips.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 28, 2018 08:50 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).