In the first electoral battle since the new government under chief minister DK Shivakumar took charge in Karnataka, the ruling Congress on Thursday won five of the seven Legislative Council seats that went to polls, while the opposition BJP bagged two.
The results also brought to light cross-voting by BJP and JD(S) legislators in favour of Congress candidates, as the ruling party received 151 votes, 11 more than the expected 140, PTI reported, quoting sources.
Eight candidates were in the fray for the seven MLC seats to be elected by MLAs, for which voting was held on Thursday at the Karnataka Vidhana Soudha. Votes were subsequently counted in the evening.
The polls were held as the terms of seven MLCs — Congress leaders Naseer Ahmed, Tippannappa, and B K Hariprasad; BJP leaders N Nagaraju (MTB), Prathap Simha Nayak K, and Sunil Vallyapur; and JD(S) leader Govindaraju–are set to expire upon their retirement on June 30.
According to sources quoted by PTI, preliminary information suggests that three BJP and eight JD(S) MLAs allegedly cross-voted in this election, and one BJP MLA’s vote was declared invalid.
Karnataka MLC polls: Full list of winners
Congress:
- Thippannappa Kamknoor
- PV Mohan
- BK Hariprasad
- Shivanna BS
- Vinay Karthik Prakash
BJP:
The cross-voting surprise
Congress’s win in the election is seen as a morale booster for new CM DK Shivakumar and the party’s new State President B K Hariprasad. The party’s success in garnering more votes than expected, especially from other parties, while keeping its own tally intact amid fears of internal cross-voting, reflects their leadership and organisational skills, a senior party functionary told reporters.
For the BJP, the cross-voting seems to have come as a “surprise” and is seen as a major setback amid factional rifts within the party and discontent over the state leadership, a leader said. For the JD(S), this result reflects the vulnerabilities it may face in future with the emergence of Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga strongman, as CM.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashok acknowledged that his party’s legislators had voted against the BJP.
“Our candidates have won, and we congratulate them. We have three cross votes. We will know who have done and the party will take appropriate action,” he said.
CM DK Shivakumar denied approaching legislators from rival parties.
“I don’t know who has voted. They have voted on their conscience. I have not gone to speak to anyone,” he said.
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