Congress bags majority of seats in Karnataka council polls

Bengaluru, Dec 30  The ruling Congress won 13 of the 25 Karnataka legislative council seats for which elections were held, leaving opposition BJP and JD-S behind with six and four seats, an election commission official said on Wednesday.

"Congress has won 13 constituencies, BJP six, JD-S four and independents in two of the 25 legislative council seats where the biennial polling was held on December 27," Karnataka chief electoral officer A.K Jha told IANS here.

The Congress won in Bangalore Rural and Bangalore Urban, Bidar, Bellary, Bijapur-II, Chitradurga, Dakshina Kannada-II, Dharwad-I, Hassan, Mysore-I, Raichur, Shimoga and Uttara Kannada, said the poll panel, which retained the old names of the places.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won in Belgaum-II, Chikkamagalur, Dakshina Kannada-I, Dharwad-II, Gulbarga and Kodagu, while JD-S won in Kolar, Mandya, Mysore-II and Tumkur.

Two independents won from Belgaum-1 and Bijapur-1, from where former BJP union minister Basangouda R. Patil (Yatnal) contested.

In six districts -- Bangalore, Belgaum, Bijapur, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad and Mysore, elections were held in two constituencies each respectively.

A record 99.6 percent voting was registered in the polling on Sunday.

Members of urban and local bodies and lawmakers from the state legislative assembly and parliament from the state form the electorate for the council seats which went to polls.

In all, 125 candidates, including eight women, were in the fray.

The Congress contested in 21 seats, while BJP fought in 20 seats and JD-S in 18.

In the 75-member council, Congress has 28 seats, BJP 30, JD-S 12, and independents four. One seat is vacant.

Of the total, 25 members are elected by the assembly and parliament lawmakers, 25 from local bodies, 11 are nominated by the governor and seven elected from the graduates' and teachers' constituencies.