Congress Wins 5 of 7 Karnataka Legislative Council Seats Amid Alleged Cross-Voting

The ruling Congress won five of the seven seats in the Karnataka legislative council elections on Thursday, with alleged cross-voting from BJP and JD(S) ranks helping the party exceed its expected numbers.

BENGALURU: The ruling Congress won five of the seven seats in the Karnataka legislative council elections on Thursday, with alleged cross-voting from BJP and JD(S) ranks helping the party exceed its expected numbers. The BJP managed to win two seats, while the JD(S) candidate lost to Congress’s fifth nominee in a closely fought contest. The result marked the first electoral challenge for Karnataka chief minister D K Shivakumar after taking charge, and the victory came as a boost for the Congress government. The five winning Congress candidates were Thippannappa Kamknoor, P V Mohan, B K Hariprasad, Shivanna B S and Vinay Karthik Prakash. BJP candidates Lingaraj Patil and Raghu R also won, while JD(S) nominee Govindaraju was defeated.

All the five candidates from Congress (left to right) Vinay Karthik, Shivanna Malavalli, Tippanna Kamaknoor, P V Mohan, and B K Hariprasad celebrated their victory in the Legislative council election at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on Thursday. (Image Credit: Chetan Shivakumar/TNN)

Congress, which has 135 MLAs, secured 151 votes — 16 more than its official strength. All five Congress candidates won in the first round. The BJP, with 64 MLAs, saw its two candidates receive a combined 56 votes, eight fewer than expected. Lingaraj Patil got 27 votes against the 30 assigned to him, while Raghu R secured 29, one short of his quota. The JD(S), which has 18 MLAs, received only 14 votes for its candidate. Under the NDA arrangement, BJP had reportedly allocated three MLAs to support the JD(S), taking its expected tally to 21. However, the party ended up seven votes short.'Where did 12 NDA votes go?' The combined NDA shortfall stood at 12 votes — eight from BJP and four from JD(S). It is still unclear how many votes went to Congress and how many were declared invalid, with election officials yet to release a final breakdown. According to news agency ANI, a key question was raised after the counting was over, 'Where did 12 NDA votes go?' Reacting to the missing NDA votes, the Karnataka BJP said it would identify those who cross-voted and action would be taken against them. For the BJP, the cross-voting seems to have come as a "surprise" and is seen as a major setback amid factional rifts within and discontent about the state leadership, a leader said, as quoted by news agency PTI. For the JD(S), this result reflects the vulnerabilities it may face in future with the emergence of Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga strongman, as CM. Shivakumar, however, said the Congress did not have information about cross-voting. "Some of them might have cast a conscience vote, and allegations made by the BJP and JDS are frustration," Shivakumar said. He added that two BJP MLAs, Shivaram Hebbar and ST Somashekar, had been expelled by their party and wanted to be accommodated. "As both Shivaram Hebbar and ST Somashekar were expelled from the BJP, and they wanted to be accommodated, and we gave them space, and they voted in favour of their conscience," he said. Addressing a press conference after the results, Shivakumar said the victory reflected support for the Congress government's welfare measures. "This is not support for my government alone; it is support for the welfare of the people of the state," he said. He added, "Today, all legislators have expressed their confidence. Members across party lines have stood in support of us. Along with that, all our legislators have remained united." The chief minister said Congress had entered the contest knowing its numbers and was confident of securing five seats. "Our strength was already known. We already had the support of two independents, while one member was sitting with us by mutual understanding," he said. On support from opposition legislators, he said, "As for the rest, the numbers show who from different parties have supported us. I thank them for the confidence they have reposed in me. This government exists for the welfare of the people." Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala called the result a "vote for positive politics". "In the first round of the Legislative Council elections, all five Congress candidates won with a landslide victory. Congress had 135 votes, but it won 151. The BJP lost 7 votes, falling short of 64, and the Janata Dal won 14 votes instead of 18," Surjewala said. "This vote is a vote for positive politics. On one side is the negative politics of the BJP and the negative politics of the Janata Dal, which wanted to abolish the Congress's 5 guarantees," he added. Surjewala also claimed the opposition MLAs had shown confidence in the Congress government's welfare schemes. "The BJP and the Janata Dal want to end these guarantees," he said.