Karnataka powerplay: Congress records first win against BJP-JD(S) alliance in Legislative Council bypoll

Karnataka powerplay: Congress records first win against BJP-JD(S) alliance in Legislative Council bypoll

THE KARNATAKA Congress on Tuesday claimed its first victory over the newly formed JD(S)-BJP alliance in the state in a Legislative Council bypoll to the Bangalore Teachers’ seat.

Congress candidate P Puttanna defeated JD(S) nominee A P Ranganath on the seat that the BJP had handed over to its new ally in Karnataka as part of the seat-sharing arrangements ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The JD(S) fielded the president of its legal cell, A P Ranganath, who lost the last Council election from the Teachers’ seat to Putunna.

Puttanna, who registered his fifth consecutive win in the constituency, was previously a BJP MLC. The bypoll was warranted after he quit the seat in March 2023 to contest the Assembly elections on a Congress ticket, but lost the poll. Before joining the BJP in 2020, Puttanna had won the Council poll thrice on JD(S) ticket.

The Congress candidate polled 8,260 votes and defeated Ranganath by a margin of 1,507. A total of 16,063 votes were polled in the election and 10,106 voters were women. As many as 1,000 votes were reported to have been rejected, reducing the total valid votes. The bypoll to the Teachers’ constituency seat in the Council involves voting by registered teachers.

“This is a special day for the Congress. The joint candidate of the JD(S) and BJP under a new alliance has been defeated. The seat was won by the BJP earlier, but it allowed the JD(S) to field its candidate,” Karnataka Congress chief and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said after the result was declared on Tuesday evening.

“I would like to say that some BJP-JD(S) leaders claimed that the polls will be an indicator of things to come. The results have come and Puttanna of the Congress has won the polls. He has won for the fifth consecutive time. The voters who are educated and are teachers have rejected the BJP-JD(S) (alliance) and have voted for the Congress. The same mood will prevail in the state in the Lok Sabha polls,” Shivakumar said.

The bypoll held on February 16 was being touted as the first test for the BJP-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP conceded the seat to the JD(S) following a request by the latter to be allowed to field its candidate. The decision was taken in January following a meeting of the state leaders of the two parties.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said ahead of the polls that despite the BJP-JD(S) alliance the Congress will win the seat.

“This constituency is the one which Puttanna had resigned from to contest the Assembly elections. He is contesting for the fifth time. In the past he has defeated the BJP and the JD(S). He has the support of the teachers and has also won their hearts and this has helped him win the teachers’ constituency four times in a row,” the CM said.

The outcome of the polls will not have a bearing on the Legislative Council where the BJP-JD(S) combine has a clear majority in the 75-member House. The BJP has 34 members, the Congress 29, the JD(S) 8 and 1 Independent member, besides the chairman and two vacancies in the House.

The second vacancy is on account of the resignation of Congress MLC and former BJP chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who quit last month to return to the BJP.

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