Counting underway for 2 Assembly, 4 MLC seats in K’taka

Bengaluru, Nov 10 (SocialNews.XYZ) The counting of votes for the two Assembly constituencies and four seats of the legislative council was underway in Karnataka on Tuesday.

The elections to the four legislative council seats were held on October 28, while by-elections to two seats -- Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Sira in Tumkuru -- was held on November 3.

The outcome of the bypolls to two seats -- RR Nagar and Sira -- will have no impact on Karnataka Chief Minister, B.S. Yediyurappa-led BJP government in the state.

But the outcome of these seats will certainly have an impact on the leadership of state Congress Committee president, D.K. Shivakumar, and Janata Dal (S) leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy's popularity, as these seats are considered to be Vokkaliga community bastions, to which both leaders belong.

However, victory in the Sira constituency by the BJP, will certainly have a bearing on BJP vice president and Yediyurappa's son, B.Y. Raghavendra's clout in the party, as he has thrown all his might and resources to ensure the party candidate's win in Sira, a constituency which has never voted for the BJP in the past. In the past three Assembly elections, the BJP has only ended a distant third in this constituency by securing around 15,000 to 18,000 votes.

For this reason, Sira, will witness a triangular fight, while in RR Nagar it is almost perceived to be a straight fight between the BJP and the Congress.

Around 6.76-lakh electorate were eligible to vote in the two by-elections. In RR Nagar, only 45.24 per cent of the 4.6-lakh voters exercised their franchise, while in Sira, a whopping 82.31 per cent of the 2.15-lakh voters cast their ballot.

Victory in at least three of the four council seats -- Karnataka West Graduates, Karnataka North-East Teachers, Bengaluru Teachers and Karnataka South-East Graduates constituencies, will help the BJP to gain a slender majority in the Upper House.

In the Council biennial elections, 40 candidates from the BJP, Congress, JD-S and the independents were in the fray for the four seats.

Of the retired candidates, R. Chowda Reddy Thoopalli of the JD-S recontested from South-East Graduates, S.V. Sankanur of the BJP from West Graduates, Sharanappa Mattur of the Congress from North-East Teachers and Puttanna of the BJP from Bangalore Teachers constituencies are contesting.

Among these four, stakes for Puttanna are considered to be high, as earlier he had represented this seat as the JD-S candidate for three terms since 2002 in a row. This time he is fighting on a BJP ticket after crossing over to the BJP due to his growing differences with JD(S) leader Kumarswamy.

Of the 75 seats in the Council, 25 are elected from the Assembly, 25 from local bodies across the state, seven each from the Graduates and Teachers constituencies and 11 are nominated by the state Governor on the recommendation of the Chief Minister or the state cabinet.

In the 75-member Council, the BJP has 28 seats, Congress 27, JD-S 14, one independent and one chairman, while four are vacant

Source: IANS