Bengaluru: The Congress registered a decisive victory in the Karnataka Legislative Council elections on Thursday, winning five of the seven seats that went to polls and further strengthening its position in the state’s Upper House.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured the remaining two seats, while the Janata Dal (Secular) failed to win any seat despite support from its alliance partner BJP.
Congress Strengthens Position in Upper House
The victorious Congress candidates were BK Hariprasad, Thippannappa Kamakanur, PV Mohan, Shivanna BS (Malavalli), and Vinay Karthik Prakash.
From the BJP, Lingaraj Patil and Raghu R emerged victorious.
Following the results, Congress increased its tally in the 75-member Legislative Council to 39 seats. The BJP now holds 29 seats, while the JD(S) has six members. The House also includes one Independent member.
JD(S) Candidate Defeated
The biggest setback of the election was for the JD(S), whose candidate Govindaraju failed to secure a seat despite expectations of support from alliance partner BJP.
According to the vote count, Govindaraju received only 14 first-preference votes, even though the JD(S) has 18 MLAs in the Assembly.
The result suggests that four JD(S) legislators may have cross-voted in favor of Congress candidates. It also indicated that BJP’s surplus votes did not transfer to the JD(S) nominee as anticipated.
Cross-Voting Plays Key Role
The ruling Congress had been aiming to secure five seats by mobilizing support from independents, unattached legislators, and expelled BJP members.
On the other hand, the JD(S) hoped to win one seat with BJP backing and support from legislators voting according to their conscience. However, the strategy failed to yield results.
Numbers Game Favored Congress
In the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, Congress has 134 MLAs, BJP 62, and JD(S) 18. The remaining members include independents, smaller parties, unattached legislators, and the Speaker, while two Assembly seats remain vacant.
Under the proportional representation system used for Council elections, each winning candidate required 28 votes.
After ensuring victory for its first four candidates with 28 votes each, Congress was left with a surplus of 22 votes and needed six additional votes to secure its fifth seat. The final result indicates the party successfully garnered the required support, enabling it to complete a five-seat sweep.
The outcome is being viewed as a significant political victory for the ruling Congress government and a setback for the JD(S)-BJP alliance ahead of future political battles in the state.
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