‘Those who betrayed party will be caught’: LoP R Ashoka as BJP-JD(S) hit by cross-voting in MLC polls

BENGALURU: Opposition leader in the Assembly, R Ashoka, on Thursday said those who indulged in cross-voting during the Legislative Council elections and “betrayed” the BJP will be identified. Congress won five of the seven seats in the MLC polls in Karnataka, amid a cross-voting from the BJP-JD(S) camp.

Speaking to the media after congratulating the winning candidates, Ashoka said three votes were cross-voted, and one vote was declared invalid in the MLC polls. “It will be known who did this. Those who betrayed the party will be caught,” Ashoka said.

He expressed happiness over the victory of BJP candidates Lingaraj Patil and Raghu Koutlya. “We will examine who cross-voted and why they did it. We will discuss this on the party platform,” he added. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has 64 MLAs, secured only 56 votes for its two candidates combined. Lingaraj Patil polled 27 votes while Raghu K received 29 votes.

Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the Congress received a “very big mandate” from legislators across party lines, after the party won five of the seven seats. “Today, the election was not expected. I thought that there would be no elections. But the JDS and BJP wanted to fight the elections,” Shivakumar told reporters after the results.

#WATCH | Bengaluru, Karnataka: CM DK Shivakumar says, “Today the election was not expected. I thought that there would be no elections. But the JDS and BJP wanted to fight the elections. The Congress party and the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi finalised the… pic.twitter.com/60erQZdED4

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The CM said on Thursday that the Congress high command had finalised candidates who have “been working in the party throughout the country.” “Today, a very big mandate has been given among the legislators. Many from different political parties, cutting across party lines, have voted in favour of the government. They have agreed on the policies,” he said.

“I thank all the legislators who have helped us, who have voted for us… We stood unitedly, and these are the results of the unity of the Congress party in the country,” Shivakumar added.

Congress, which has 135 MLAs, polled 151 votes in the election, with all five of its candidates declared elected in the first round. The BJP won two seats, while the JD(S) candidate lost.

The BJP has 64 MLAs, but its two candidates together secured only 56 votes, a shortfall of eight. JD(S) has 18 MLAs, but its candidate got only 14 votes. As part of the NDA arrangement, the BJP had assigned three of its MLAs to vote for the JD(S) candidate, taking the JD(S) tally to 21. Yet the JD(S) ended up with just 14, seven votes short.

The results indicated cross-voting from both the BJP and JD(S) ranks. (ANI)