State BJP leaders convened in Delhi for cross-voting

BJP National President Nitin Nabin with Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra during a recent visit to Bengaluru. | Photo credit: File photo

BJP National President Nitin Nabin summoned party state unit president BY Vijayendra, Assembly Opposition Leader R. Ashoka and state party in-charge Radha Mohan Das Agarwal to Delhi on June 23 for cross-voting in the just-concluded Karnataka Legislative Council elections.

The party high command has expressed displeasure with the development, which may lead to a reshuffle of the state leadership, several party sources said.

The state unit on Friday (June 19) constituted a commission of inquiry headed by CT Ravi, MLC, to identify crossover voters as these polls are secret ballots. N. Mahesh and Mahesh Tenginakayi are members of the committee. Party sources said the high command will also take independent reports from other leaders.

In a significant departure to the party booth on Thursday, Mr Vijayendra on Friday pegged the number of crossover voters from the party at “four to five”. Mr Ashok said there were three on Thursday (June 18). This means that some of the BJP MLAs allotted to the JD(S) candidate also cross-voted.

However, sources said it was extremely difficult to identify who the crossover voters were as it was a secret ballot and unlikely to take any action against individual MLAs. Meanwhile, sources said if the second preference votes were counted, they could deduct whether JD(S) allotted MLAs voted for them or cross-voted. However, BJP candidate Lingaraj Patil won in the elimination round and the second preference votes were not counted.

Meanwhile, Chandru Lamani, Shirahatti BJP MLA, one of those assigned to vote for the JD(S) candidate, claimed that he and Krishna Nayaka, another MLA, “sincerely” voted for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate. “Sections in the media have unfairly speculated that we may have cross-voted. This has embarrassed us in our constituencies,” he said.

‘Creating a Division’

Mr. Vijayendra said the Congress was trying to speculate on the names of cross-voters from the BJP to create a split in the party. “It is out of the question to spare those who betrayed the party and cross-voted. They cannot hide forever. The commission of inquiry will expose them and then the party will take strict action,” he said.

BJP candidate Lingaraj Patil, who was allotted 30 MLA votes, got only 27, clearly showing three crossover voters from the party. However, the BJP allocated four votes, including that of Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, an expelled MLA who announced his support to the BJP. His vote was allotted to the JD(S) candidate.

However, the candidate got only 14 votes against 18 JD(S) MLAs. While the JD(S) admits that four of their MLAs cross-voted and did not get the BJP’s votes, the BJP on Thursday claimed that their votes were actually transferred, meaning eight cross-voted the JD(S). However, Mr Vijayendra has now pegged it at “four to five”.

BJP “factionalism”

Meanwhile, the BJP is more worried about the three MLAs — out of 30 allotted to party candidate Lingaraj Patil — who cross-voted. Mr. Patil did not get adequate 28 votes and won only in the elimination round.

Sources said that while R. Raghu (Kautilya) was a candidate from one faction, Mr. Patil from Hubballi was from the opposite faction. The BJP has fielded V. Nagaraj, also from Hubballi, in the Rajya Sabha elections to fill the seat vacated by Iranna B. Kadadi from Belagavi. This prompted party leaders from the district to seek the post of MLC for the district.

However, the MLC seat also went to Hubballi. The dominance of this faction in the selection of Rajya Sabha and MLC election candidates was not liked by many and this could be reflected in the elections, sources said.

Published – 19 Jun 2026 20:44 IST