Karnataka Legislative Council Polls: Congress won five in cross-voting while BJP won two

Congress candidates who won the Legislative Council elections in Bengaluru on Thursday. | Photo credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN

Speculations of cross-voting in elections to the seven Legislative Council seats in Karnataka came to fruition on Thursday as the Congress won all the five seats it contested despite getting 11 cross-voting votes from its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (Secular).

The result is also seen as a shot in the arm for Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who was facing his first election after taking over from his predecessor Siddaramaiah.

While the BJP, which was left red-faced, lost at least three votes in the cross-voting, the JD(S), which suffered an embarrassing defeat, lost at least four. The bone of contention remains the confusion over where the four other crossover votes ended up in Congress.

The results immediately created tension among the NDA partners as the BJP insisted that four of its candidates had actually voted for JD(S) candidate Govindraj. The regional party refuted the claim and said BJP members did not vote for it. Mr. Govindraju got 14 votes against the regional party’s strength of 18 in the Legislative Assembly.

Congress candidates – KPCC president BK Hariprasad, BS Shivanna, PV Mohan, Thippannappa Kamaknoor and Vinay Karthik – along with BJP candidates Lingaraj Patil and R. Raghu, eventually won the election. Except for Mr. Patil, all others were declared winners after the first round of counting. One vote polled in favor of Mr. Raghu was declared invalid.

BJP’s embarrassment was intensified as their candidate Mr. Patil, who was allotted 30 votes, got 27 votes and was declared the winner in the knockout round. Based on the votes received by Mr. Patil, the BJP claimed that only three of its legislators had cross-voted. However, the cross-voting exposed fissures in the BJP’s faction-dominated state unit. Two years ahead of parliamentary polls, it is likely to see the party high command take more control of the state unit, sources said.

The fifth Congress candidate, Mr Karthik, who did not have the required number before the election, ended up with 32 votes – the most of any candidate in the fray. He is the grandson of former Congress leader Sahukar Chennaiah.

The Congress, which claimed the strength of 140 seats in the 224-member assembly, managed to get a combined 151 votes across five candidates.

Congress general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters that the party getting 11 more votes than expected was “historic”.

Mr. Shivakumar expressed “surprise” at these additional votes. “A number of lawmakers from other parties are trusting us again. I hope they continue to trust our programs.”

When asked about the cross-voting, he said: “I don’t know who voted in our favor. I haven’t spoken to anyone.”

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok acknowledged that three of their legislators had cross-voted. “We will know who it is and the party will decide (on action). There was also one invalid vote,” he said.

Published – 18 Jun 2026 23:48 IST