The Congress won five of the seven seats in the Legislative Council that went to polls on Thursday, June 18, amid allegations that BJP and JD(S) workers voted against their parties.
The winners from the Congress were party president BK Hariprasad, PV Mohan, BS Shivanna, Tippannappa Kamakanoor, and Vinay Karthik Prakash. The BJP winners were Raghu Kautilya and Lingaraj Patil in the elections held for seven MLC seats from the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
Each candidate needed 28 votes to win. The Congress had 138 votes, including 135 of its own MLAs and the support of three others, including two Independents and one elected from the SKP.
Hariprasad secured 30 votes, Mohan 29, Shivanna 30, Kamakanoor 30, and Vinay Karthik 32. In all, the Congress candidates polled 151 first-preference votes, 11 more than the 140 votes required to elect five members.
Of these additional votes, apart from expelled BJP legislators Shivaram Hebbar and ST Somashekhar, three more BJP MLAs and six JD(S) MLAs are believed to have voted for the Congress candidates.
As a result, BJP candidate Lingaraj Patil did not initially reach the required winning quota. Each candidate needed 27.63 votes to secure victory, but Patil received only 27 votes in the first count.
However, since JD(S) candidate Govindaraju secured only 14 votes, Patil eventually crossed the winning mark in the elimination round through the transfer of votes.
One BJP MLA's vote was declared invalid because the voter had failed to mark the preference number correctly.
BJP leaders said action would be taken against the three BJP MLAs who allegedly cross-voted for the Congress, although it was not immediately clear which BJP MLAs had voted for the Congress.
In the days leading up to the election, Congress MLAs were housed at a resort, prompting criticism from the public over the perceived extravagance.
Speaking to the media later, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said he had not approached any BJP leaders for votes. The development is seen as a boost for Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and a setback for the BJP and JD(S). It is also a setback for JD(S) leader and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, who had taken the election as a matter of prestige and challenged Shivakumar.
Addressing a press conference, Congress General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "Today is a great day in the history of Karnataka. It is not only a victory for the five Congress candidates but also a victory for the people of Karnataka. A new chapter has been written in the state's political history."
He said that state Congress unit president BK Hariprasad, senior leader BS Shivanna, senior leader Tippannappa Kamakanoor, AICC Secretary PV Mohan, and Congress treasurer Vinay Karthik had all emerged victorious in the first round of counting itself.
"According to our calculations, Congress had the support of 138 legislators — 135 Congress MLAs, one SKP member, and two Independents. However, our candidates ultimately received the support of 151 legislators, giving us more votes than expected.
"On the contrary, the BJP, which had the support of 64 legislators, including two Independents, secured only 56 first-preference votes, while one BJP vote was declared invalid. The JD(S), which has 18 members, secured only 14 votes," he added.
"I thank the people of Karnataka, Congress workers, Congress MLAs, and others who chose to support the Congress candidates," Surjewala said.
Senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said: "BJP candidates Lingaraj Patil and Raghu Kautilya have emerged victorious in the Council elections, and we congratulate them. Through the voting pattern, we have come to know that three of our votes have crossed over.
"We will identify those who voted for the opposition, and the party will take an appropriate decision. While the victory has brought us happiness, we will also rectify our mistakes," he added.
With inputs from IANS
