Karnataka: CM DK Shivakumar emerges real winner in Council polls as Congress gains from BJP and JDS cross-voting

Chief Minister DK Shivakumar emerged the real winner in the legislative council polls for seven seats as the Congress won all five seats it fielded, amid fears of crossvoting, overcoming a serious political challenge thrown at him by JDS leader and union minister HD Kumaraswamy.

Govindaraju, the BJP-JDS coalition candidate fielded by the regional party lost, after Shivakumar not only secured all Congress votes, but also managed to snatch a few from the Opposition BJP and JDS in the secret ballot.

All 222 MLAs voted. The authorities declared one vote rejected. Congress candidates Thippannappa Kamknoor, PV Mohan, BK Hariprasad, Shivanna and Vinay Karthik won, bolstering the new CM’s image. BJP’s Lingaraj Patil and Raghu R won as expected.


The elections saw several MLAs cross-vote in favour of the Congress. “MLAs have voted according to their conscience. I am not aware if any one cross voted as it was a secret ballot. But we were confident that all five candidates from the Congress would win,” Shivakumar told mediapersons after the declaration of results.

BJP state president BY Vijayendra said the party would conduct an internal probe and take appropriate action on those who defied the party’s directions. Patil received fewer votes than assigned and won in the subsequent round of counting.

The JDS may have lost, but not before giving the CM some tense moments. Both Congress and JDS had lodged their MLAs in private resorts to insulate them from rival camps and foil horse-trading attempts. The MLAs drove straight from the resorts to Vidhana Soudha to cast their votes.

Sources said the JDS decided to field its nominee after the BJP promised six surplus votes from its side. That lifted its hopes as the regional party itself has 18 MLAs, and it required four votes to win. But, as it turned out, the JDS candidate received only 14 votes, while the Congress’s Karthik got four extra votes.

The JDS took the plunge despite not having enough voters, hoping to cash in on the disgruntlement within the Congress. The strategy of Kumaraswamy, who represents Mandya in the Lok Sabha, however, did not work.

Both Shivakumar and Kumaraswamy are arch political rivals seeking to establish their dominance in the old Mysuru region. They had attached great importance to the council polls as it turned out to be a proxy war between the two.