The ruling BJP in Karnataka fell short of majority in the Legislative Council Tuesday, winning only 11 of the 25 Legislative Council seats for which voting was held last Friday. The Congress fared no better, winning another 11 seats, leaving HD Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal Secular in a position to make the difference in the Council, despite a drop in the number of their seats. The JDS won two of the six seats it contested -- in Hassan with Suraj Revanna, a grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, and another seat in Mysuru.
The BJP was hoping to achieve this majority in the 75-member house, so it would not have to depend any longer on the JDS for passage of Bills. A party needs 38 members to attain majority.
But its main concern -- that the Congress, which had 29 members -- will achieve majority or get close enough to join hands with the JDS and block bills, did not materialize either.
The BJP, which had 32 members in the house, now has 36 members. The Congress, which had 29 members, now stands at 26. The JDS has slid from 12 to 10.
The biennial election to the Council was held after the retirement of sitting council members. Of the outgoing members, 14 were from the Congress, seven from the BJP and four from the JDS.
On Friday, 20 BJP candidates, 20 Congress candidates and six candidates of the JDS were in the race. Altogether, there were 90 candidates contesting for the 25 seats.
The number of eligible voters -- elected representatives from local bodies across 20 districts of the state --was 99025.
The elections were seen as a second chance for Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who had lost face with the party's embarrassing defeat in last month's assembly by-election for the Hanagal seat.
The seat was part of the Chief Minister's home district of Haveri where he had campaigned extensively for the candidate.
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