Bengaluru, Dec 14: The ruling BJP on Tuesday fell one seat short of gaining a simple majority in the Karnataka Legislative Council. The party bagged 11 of the 25 seats, from 20 Local Authorities' constituencies in the state, for which the biennial election was held on December 10, and counting was taken up on Tuesday.
The opposition Congress also managed to clinch 11 seats, while the JD(S) won two seats. An independent candidate has managed to win one of the two seats in the prestigious Belagavi constituency, officials said.
With these results, BJP's strength in the 75-member 'Upper House' has gone up from 32 to 37, while the Congress' tally declined from 29 to 26, and the JD(S)' numbers came down from 12 to 10.
During the previous MLC polls from the Local Authorities' constituencies in 2015, the BJP had won six, Congress 14 and the JD(S) four seats respectively, while one seat had gone to an independent.
In a major blow to the BJP, independent candidate Lakhan Jarkiholi, one among the Jarkiholi brothers, emerged victorious during the counting of second preferential votes in Belagavi, thereby bagging one of the two seats from the constituency, while Congress' Channaraj Hattiholi won the other in the first preferential votes.
Though the ruling BJP has performed better compared to last time, this election is being seen as a "warning bell" for the party following its defeat in stronghold constituency like Belagavi; while for the Congress, according to a senior functionary, it has come as a morale booster as the party has gained more grounds in the Vokkaliga bastion of old Mysuru region, along with a message that collective and united efforts will yield good results.
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