‘We have enough numbers’: Congress MLA Dinesh Gundurao on MLC elections

BENGALURU: Congress MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao on Thursday expressed confidence in the party securing victories in the ongoing Karnataka Legislative Council elections, declaring that the party possesses the necessary numbers to secure a win for its candidates without needing external support.

“We will win all five seats with our own votes. We took our MLAs yesterday, where mock voting was also held. We have enough numbers”, Dinesh Gundu Rao said.

Meanwhile, voting for 7 seats of the Karnataka Legislative Council began at 9 am today at Vidhana Soudha and will continue till 4 pm. The results will be announced later in the evening.

Two polling booths have been set up inside the state secretariat to facilitate secret voting by MLAs. CCTV cameras have been installed both inside and outside the polling room, and all arrangements for voting have been completed.

#WATCH | Bengaluru | On Karnataka Legislative Council (MLC) elections, Congress MLA Dinesh Gundurao says, “We will win all 5 seats with our own votes. We took our MLAs yesterday, where mock voting was also held. We have enough numbers.”

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Ahead of polling, Congress MLAs arrived at Vidhana Soudha in groups. Buses were arranged to bring legislators from a resort to the state secretariat. However, earlier, BJP leaders had alleged that the Congress MLAs were moved to a resort before the polls amid fears of cross-voting.

On the other side in the Bharatiya Janata Party, Leader of Opposition in the Assemblym R Ashoka, expressed confidence that the BJP’s two candidates will win. Ashoka said, “Our two candidates will win, there is no doubt at all. We have good MLAs in our party; there is no cross-voting. We have to transfer the excess votes to the JDS… I called a meeting today and gave the whip.”

Of the seven seats falling vacant, four are currently held by the Congress, two by the BJP and one by the JD(S). Eight candidates are in the fray for seven seats, with each candidate needing 28 votes to secure a win.

The Congress has fielded four candidates: BK Hariprasad, Tippannappa Kamaknoor, PV Mohan and Shivanna Malavalli. The BJP has nominated Raghu Kautilya and Lingaraj Patil. The main contest for the seventh seat is expected to be between Congress candidate Vinay Karthik and JD(S) candidate Govindaraju.

The election is being seen as an important test for Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, as it is the first major poll under his leadership. (ANI)