The elections to 25 seats in the Karnataka Legislative Council, polling for which was held on 10 December, has left the Bharatiya Janata Party just one short of a simple majority in the Upper House.
As counting concluded on Tuesday, 14 December, the saffron party and the Congress secured 11 seats each. JD(S) managed to win two seats, Hassan and Myusuru out of the six that the party contested.
The result took the BJP’s strength in the Council from 32 to 37. Congress' strength fell to 26 from 29, and the number of JD (S) members has dropped to 10 from 12. The Council has 75 seats.
Performance in Key Constituencies
BJP candidate D S Arun won the Shivamogga constituency seat with 2,192 votes. Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary and Congress candidate Manjunath Bhandari retained their seats in the Dakshina Kannada local body constituencies.
Congress candidate Bhimrao B Patil bagged the Bidar constituency seat against BJP candidate Prakash Khandre by 200 votes.
JD(S) candidate Suraj Revanna won the council elections from Hassan with more than 1,400 votes. Revanna is also the grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. BJP candidate Suja Kushalappa, from Kodagu, also won with at least 705 votes. The Ballari seat was bagged by BJP's YM Satish.
Kalaburgi was also clinched by the BJP's BJ Paatil.
BJP was defeated by MG Gooligowda of the Congress in Mandya. Anil Kumar of the Congress also bagged the Kolar seat.
Congress' S Ravi won the Bengaluru Rural seat.
Polls Witnessed Over 99 Percent Turnout
More than one lakh elected representatives from the local bodies of 20 districts of Karnataka voted in the elections that recorded over 99 percent turnout.
The elections were held for two seats each from the local constituencies of-Bijapur, Belgaum, Dharwad, Dakshina Kannada and Mysuru; and one each from Bidar, Gulbarga, Uttara Kannada, Raichur, Bellary, Chitradurga, Shivamogga, Chikmagalur, Hassan, Tumakuru, Mandya, Bangalore, Bangalore Rural, Kolar and Kodagu.
Why Were the Council Elections Held?
The six-year terms of 25 elected members of the house will end on 5 January, 2022.
At least 15 members of the Congress, six from the BJP and four from the JD(S) stand in the line of retirement.
The polls are also important for Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's future as he is expected to lead the BJP's campaign in 2023 Assembly elections. If the BJP had secured a simple majority in the house, the party could have passed important bills including the upcoming anti-conversion bill in the Upper House without hassle.
(With inputs from The Hindu, PTI)
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