Karnataka Legislative Council polls: BJP falls one seat short of gaining majority

The Bharatiya Janata Party won 11 of the 25 Karnataka Legislative Council seats, results for which were declared on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported. The saffron party fell short of a seat to get a simple majority in the Council.

The Opposition Congress also won 11 seats, the Janata Dal (Secular) two and an Independent candidate secured the other seat.

The election for 25 of the total 75 seats of the Council was held on December 10. More than one lakh elected representatives from local bodies of 20 districts had voted.

After Tuesday’s results, the BJP’s strength in the Council has increased from 32 to 37 while the Congress tally declined to 26 from 29 and the number of JD(S) members reduced to 10 from 12.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he was happy with the result, the Deccan Herald reported.

“We have gained five seats,” he said. “Obviously, that’s a good result. We expected to win 13-14. We will discuss the misses internally.”

The BJP suffered a setback in Belagavi, where Independent candidate Lakhan Jarkiholi defeated MLC Mahanthesh Kavatigamath, The Indian Express reported. Lakhan Jarkiholi is the brother of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi.

In the Bengaluru Urban region, BJP’s HS Gopinath defeated Congress candidate Yousuf Sharif.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s grandson, Suraj Revanna, won a seat in the…

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