Will win 15 out of 25 in Legislative Council polls: Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Even the Karnataka Assembly elections have not been fought so fiercely! With as high as 99 per cent voters exercising their franchise to elect 25 Legislative Council members from local bodies constituencies on Sunday, the wait has begun for December 30 when the votes will be counted.

The reasons for the high decibel campaign leading to the polls and the huge turnout are not hard to find; in the 75 member State Council, the BJP with 30 members, enjoys a slender edge over the Congress which has 28 while there are 12 JD(S) members and four Independents. All that the Congress needs to tilt the balance in its favour are a few more seats than the 13 local body seats it now has in the Council.

The ruling party has been facing embarrassing moments due to lack of numbers in the Upper House and is finding it difficult to get crucial legislation passed. In case it gets a majority, it could also ensure the exit of current Council chairman D.H. Shankaramurthy (BJP) and deputy chairman Marithibbe Gowda (JD-S) and gets its nominees in place.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah echoed this sentiment when he declared in his hometown, Mysuru, that the Congress party is confident of winning at least 15 seats though it would like to emerge victorious in all seats it is contesting. On the trend of ‘buying’ votes with expensive gifts and cash rewards- which was more than evident in the current election- he admitted that it was not a good development.

“This should be a matter of self introspection for each politician and is worth a discussion without self-deception,” he said.

The Congress has fielded 21 candidates in the biennial elections, the BJP 20, JD(S) 18 and others 6 with 60 Independents too trying their luck. The term of the 25 retiring members is set to expire on January 5.