After Bypoll Sweep, BJP Clinches All Four Seats In Karnataka Legislative Council To Become Single Largest Party 

Karnataka is seeing the BJP make inroads into erstwhile JDS and Congress bastions not just in the legislative assembly seats but at the council level too.

As the saffron party was registering its bypolls sweep on Tuesday (10 November), counting was also on for the four legislative council seats.

Results of the three seats, Sankanur V in Karnataka West, Sashil Namoshi in Karnataka North East and Puttanna in Bangalore Teacher’s constituency, were declared on Tuesday itself.

While the counting for the fourth seat, South East graduates constituency, which saw around one lakh votes, went on until late Wednesday evening. BJP’s official nominee Chidananda Gowda won with a a margin of 6,100 votes.

Notably, the South East graduates constituency is also one of the biggest constituencies encompassing a total of 5 MPs and 32 MLAs.

With the sweep in legislative council elections as well, the party is now the single largest party with 32 seats and one independent support.

These new seats will aid the party‘s efforts at seeing through the various bills that have hit a roadblock in the last council session, especially the Karnataka Land Reforms Bill 2020, which is yet to be passed owing to an adjournment of the council session by the chairman Pratap Chandra Shetty of the Congress without the bill being voted upon.

With the numbers on its side, the party will seek a replacement of the chairman of “Upper House when the Council convenes next, possibly in January-February,’’ said MLC Ravi Kumar.