JD(S), BJP win one Council seat each

The JD(S) and the BJP each bagged one of the six seats to the Legislative Council from the graduates and teachers constituencies, for which results were declared on Tuesday.

Counting was still on for four other seats with the JD(S) leading in two, the BJP in one and the Congress in one.

Marithibbe Gowda of the JD(S) won from the Karnataka South Teachers’ constituency, which covers the districts of Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Mandya and Hassan. He defeated his nearest rival M Lakshmana of the Congress by a margin of 360 votes. This is Gowda’s fourth consecutive win from the constituency.

Elections to the six seats — three each from the graduates and teachers constituencies — were held on June 8. Although the Congress and JD(S) are alliance partners in the state government, the two chose to fight each other in the Council polls.

In Karnataka South East Teachers’ constituency, BJP’s Y A Narayanaswamy defeated M A Ramesh Babu of the JD(S) by a margin of 2,000 votes. This constituency comprises Chitradurga, Davangere, Tumakuru, Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts. Babu was the incumbent MLC from the constituency. Narayanaswamy had unsuccessfully contested from the Hebbal Assembly segment in May this year.

Late Tuesday evening trends showed Pratap Reddy of the JD(S) leading in the Karnataka North East Graduates’ constituency, BJP’s Ayanur Manjunath in the Karnataka South West Graduates’ constituency and S L Bhojegowda of the JD(S) in the Karnataka South West Teachers’ constituency. In the Bangalore Graduates’ constituency, Congress’ Ramoji Gowda held the lead with BJP’s A Devegowda not far behind.