Bengaluru:
The ruling Congress in Karnataka scored a duck in the MLC elections with the NDA taking home four seats - three by the BJP and one by the JD(S).
The elections to the legislative council seats held on October 23 was seen as a test of coordination between the alliance partners BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) and the level of support the Congress may have or not have among teachers and graduates.
"This is a success for the NDA and all the narratives spread by the Congress have been exposed… The Congress government has utterly failed in Karnataka… The people are clearly saying they don't want the Congress government," BJP leader Ashok Gowda told NDTV this morning.
The BJP won the North-East Teachers' constituency, the South-East Graduates' and the West Graduates' constituencies. Its ally JD(S) took the Bengaluru Teachers' constituency.
"It is an indication of what is going to happen in the BBMP elections. This is where the Congress should learn that they don't appeal to the people. They only create stories that are fake, far from the truth," Gowda said.
In the North-East Teachers' seat, BJP MLC Shashil G Namoshi, who contested again, dashed all hopes of Congress candidate Sharanappa Mattur. This was Namoshi's fifth win in the seat that covers Kalaburagi, the homeground of Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge.
In the South-East Graduates' seat, BJP's KM Suresh defeated the Congress's Shashi Hulikunte Mutt, and in the West Graduates' Constituency the BJP's SV Sankanur won against the Congress's Mohan Limbikai.
The election was also a kind of test to check whether the two Opposition partners in the southern state could transfer their support to each other's candidates.
The MLC election results are not likely to affect the stability of the Congress government, but the strong performance of the Opposition alliance will give it some momentum to attack the Congress government that came to power in 2023.
The 75-member legislative council has 38 Congress members, 24 from the BJP, six from the JD(S), one independent and a chairman. Five seats kept for government nominations are vacant.
The Congress may, however, increase its strength when the vacancies are filled, limiting the impact of the election results on the overall balance of power in the house.