- Karnataka Congress lost all four Legislative Council seats.
- JD(S) wrested Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency from Congress.
- BJP retained its three other Council seats successfully.
- Outcome signals opposition consolidation, a moral victory for them.
Bengaluru, Oct 28 (PTI) In a setback to the Congress in Karnataka, the party lost all four seats in the Legislative Council elections, with the opposition JD(S) wresting one segment from the ruling party and its ally BJP retaining three.
The JD(S) wrested the Bengaluru Teachers’ Constituency from Congress.
The BJP registered victory in North-East Teachers’, South-East Graduates’ and West Graduates’ constituencies, defeating the Congress candidates.
Although the outcome may not impact the Congress government’s stability, it is being seen as a result of BJP-JD(S) opposition consolidation and serves as a moral victory for the bloc.
While the results of Bengaluru Teachers’ and North-East Teachers’ constituencies were declared on Tuesday, the counting continued overnight in the other two segments, officials said on Wednesday.
All four MLC seats went to polls on October 23, in which ballot papers were used as per practice.
In the Bengaluru Teachers’ Constituency, JD(S) candidate A P Ranganath defeated sitting Congress MLC Puttanna, who sought re-election, by a margin of 908 votes. Ranganath secured 10,810 votes against Puttanna’s 9,902, officials said.
In the North-East Teachers’ Constituency, BJP’s sitting MLC Shashil G Namoshi defeated Congress candidate Sharanappa Mattur, officials said.
According to party sources, this was his fifth victory from the segment, which covers Kalaburagi, the home turf of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and neighbouring districts of the Kalyana Karnataka region.
Namoshi won by a margin of 3,297 votes, securing 15,596 votes, while Mattur garnered 12,299 votes.
In the South-East Graduates’ Constituency, BJP candidate K M Suresh secured a decisive victory over Congress nominee Shashi Hulikunte Mutt. He won by a margin of 23,098 votes.
While Suresh polled 66,020 votes, the Congress candidate got 42,922 votes.
In the West Graduates’ Constituency, sitting BJP MLC S V Sankanur won against Congress candidate Mohan Limbikai by a margin of 9,323 votes, official sources said.
While Sankanur secured 33,711 votes, the Congress candidate got 24,388 votes, they said.
The contest was seen as a test of coordination between the BJP and JD(S), which are alliance partners, as well as the Congress’s support base among teachers and graduates.
The BJP retained the three seats it held earlier, while the JD(S) succeeded in wresting the Bengaluru Teachers’ Constituency from the Congress.
The Bengaluru contest was significant as Puttanna had switched from the JD(S) to the Congress ahead of the previous Assembly elections in 2023. Both Puttanna and Ranganath belong to the Vokkaliga community.
The election served as a key test of whether the two opposition alliance partners could transfer their support to each other’s candidates.
The Congress, which had sought to hold on to its lone seat and expand its presence in other constituencies, has failed to deliver.
Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president B K Hariprasad, ministers and senior party leaders campaigned across the constituencies.
Though the results were not expected to affect the stability of the state government, the strong showing by the opposition alliance has provided it with political ammunition against the Congress government, which came to power in 2023.
The 75-member Legislative Council currently has 38 Congress members, 24 from the BJP, six from the JD(S), one Independent and Chairman Saleem Ahmed. Five seats earmarked for government nominations are vacant.
The Congress is expected to increase its strength when the vacancies are filled, limiting the impact of the election results on the overall balance of power in the House.
Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra said the NDA’s victory in all four MLC seats is a rejection of the ruling Congress and a pointer to the 2028 Assembly elections.
Congratulating the winning NDA candidates, he said the results were a fitting response to what he described as attempts by certain political forces to undermine constitutional institutions and discredit the electoral system.
The victory also reflected support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and a rejection of the Congress government’s corruption and lack of development in Karnataka, he said in a statement.
Vijayendra alleged that the Congress had been spreading misinformation about the electoral process in the name of claims of “vote theft” and opposition to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
According to him, the results were also a response to the Congress questioning Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and advocating ballot paper voting.
“Whatever route you take, this is the answer,” he said, referring to the voters’ verdict.
Union Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has described the victory of NDA candidates, including A P Ranganath in the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency, as “Satyameva Jayate”, saying it marked a historic win and sent a clear message ahead of the 2028 Assembly elections.
Congratulating BJP and JD(S) candidates, leaders and workers, in a post on ‘X’, he said the defeat of what he described as “lies, misgovernance, money power and muscle power” had ushered in a new dawn of hope.
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