Congress candidates swept the first round of the election, comfortably exceeding the requirements for all five nominees. While the party holds 135 seats in the assembly, the surplus of 16 votes suggests significant defections from the opposition ranks. In contrast, the BJP and JD(S) coalition failed to meet their projected targets. Despite holding 64 and 18 seats respectively, the BJP candidates secured only 56 votes, while the JD(S) nominee finished with just 14, trailing behind the required quota.
Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar framed the results as a triumph of conscience, dismissing opposition claims of foul play as frustration. He noted that former BJP members Shivaram Hebbar and ST Somashekar, who were previously expelled from their party, chose to support the Congress. Party General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala described the outcome as a mandate for the government's social welfare guarantees, asserting that opposition MLAs have lost confidence in their own leadership. Election officials have yet to release a definitive breakdown of the missing 12 NDA votes, leaving the exact ratio of cross-votes versus invalid ballots to be confirmed.
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first!