Karnataka MLC polls: Setback for JD(S), gains for Cong

The H D Deve Gowda-led JD(S) is set to suffer a setback in the Legislative Council as the regional party's tally could be reduced by two seats with the Congress making gains.

The ruling BJP is expected to retain at least two of the four seats where votes are being counted. However, the saffron party also faced a setback with the defeat of Arun Shahapur from the Northwest Teachers' constituency.

According to the results announced by the Election Commission, the BJP and the Congress have won one constituency each — West and Northwest Teachers' constituency, respectively — while the counting of votes for two graduates' constituencies — South and Northwest — is still under way.

Basavaraj Horatti, who joined the BJP prior to the election, recorded his eighth straight win from West Teachers' constituency. Shahapur, who had represented the Northwest Teachers' constituency twice, lost to former Congress MP Prakash Hukkeri.

Horatti polled almost two-thirds of the votes in the constituency — 9,266 of the 14,360 valid votes, which is more than double the votes polled by his closest contender Basavaraj Gurikar of the Congress. None of the five remaining candidates in the fray polled more than 300 votes.

Shahapur was hoping for a hat-trick win. The Congress thwarted this as Hukkeri defeated Shahapur by over 5,000 votes. Hukkeri polled 11,460 votes while Shahapur got 6,405. The total votes polled in the constituency were 20,132.

The saffron party had faced an uphill battle in the constituency as former Rajya Sabha MP Prabhakar Kore was said to have opposed Shahapur's candidature. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had held a meeting with Kore ahead of polling to iron out the differences.

Counting of votes in the graduates' constituencies is expected to conclude in the early hours of Thursday. Latest figures showed BJP's Hanumanth Nirani leading in the Northwest Teachers' constituency. Congress' Madhu Madegowda maintains a narrow lead in the South Teachers' constituency with BJP's M V Ravishankar close behind.