MLC polls: Cong loses 2 seats to JD(S), unlikely to win majority

BENGALURU/MYSURU: As trends and results emerged for the six Karnataka legislative council seats that went to the polls on Thursday, it appeared Congress might have to wait longer before securing a majority in the Upper House.

Elections to three seats each in the graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies, held on June 3, have dealt a blow to the governing party, with its candidates from the South and Southwest Teachers’ constituencies losing to their JD(S) rivals in elections based on proportional representation .
The defeat of the two Congress candidates implies the party will not be able to attain a majority in the council until 2026. Counting was still under way for Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Kalaburagi when reports last came in. On Thursday, Congress secured seven out of the 11 MLC seats as their candidates were elected from assembly to council unopposed.
Congress short by 8 seats to reach halfway mark
BJP won three seats uncontested, while JD(S) retained its single seat from the assembly.
With 30 MLC seats, Congress is still short by eight to reach the halfway mark in the council. Had Congress won all six seats on Thursday and managed to clinch the seat vacated by Jagadish Shettar in the upcoming bypoll, it would have been that much closer to securing a majority. Moreover, with opposition leader Kota Shrinivas Poojary elected as an MP from Udupi Chikkamagalur, the strength of the House was reduced to 74, from 75, which could have also helped Congress in securing a majority.
In the South Teachers’ constituency, Congress candidate Marithibbegowda lost to new comer K Vivekananda, dashing the veteran’s hope for a fifth consecutive term.
In the segment led by former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy’s JD(S), the party dealt a heavy blow to Congress in areas where the fight is traditionally between these two parties. These results follow Congress candidate M Lakshmana’s defeat to BJP’s Yaduveer KC Wadiyar in the Mysore Lok Sabha segment, where the JD(S)-BJP alliance dealt a blow to Congress.
Meanwhile, JD(S) candidate SL Bhoje Gowda emerged victorious in the Southwest Teachers’ constituency, defeating his Congress rival KK Manjunath Kumar by 5,267 votes. In the Southwest Graduates’ constituency, BJP’s Dhananjaya Sarji was ahead of Congress candidate Ayunur Manjunath.