Bypoll trends indicate BJP govt to continue in Karnataka
Bengaluru: Initial trends of vote count in 15 Assembly segments in Karnataka indicate that the ruling BJP government would continue in power in the southern state, a party official said on Monday.
According to early trends over an hour after counting of votes began at 8.00 a.m. in all the Assembly seats, the BJP is leading in 8 and the opposition Congress and Janata Dal-Secular in one each.
“Our candidates are leading in Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Yellapur, Hirekuru, Vijayanagar, Chikkaballapur and Ranibennur,” BJP state unit spokesman G. Madhusudan told IANS here.
The ruling party requires a minimum of 7 seats in the 223-member Assembly for a simple majority with 112 as the halfway mark, as it already has 104 members, excluding the Speaker and the support of an Independent.
The opposition Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) is leading in Yeshvanthapura in Bengaluru northern suburb, according to the Election Commission web site.
The Congress is leading in Shivajinagara in Bengaluru central after three of the 20 rounds of vote count.
The BJP and the opposition Congress contested in all the 15 Assembly seats, while the JD-S in 12 seats.
BJP leads in 10 seats, Congress and JDS in two seats each
At the end of the second round of counting of votes, the ruling BJP is leading in 10 out of 15 assembly segments that went to polls on December 5. The Congress and the JDS candidates are leading in two constituencies each, while BJP rebel candidate Sharath Bache Gowda is leading in Hosakote.
Congress, BJP leading in 2 each, JDS in one: EC
According to official EC trends at 9 AM, Congress and BJP are leading in two seats each while JD(S) has the lead in one constituency.
BJP ahead in Hospet constituency
BJP’s Hospet constituency candidate Anand Singh takes the lead after the first round.
BJP leads in Yellapur
BJP candidate Shivaram Hebbar leads by over 2000 votes over Congress candidate Bhimanna Naika after first round of counting for Yellapur Assembly.
Shivaram Hebbar 4694
Bhimanna Naik 2430
Counting begins
It’s 8 AM and the crucial counting which will decide the fate of the current Karnataka government begins.
Counting to start at 8 AM
The counting in the bypolls for 15 Assembly seats in Karnataka will start shortly. The outcome of the bypoll, which recorded 67. 91 per cent polling, is crucial for BJP, which needs to win at least six seats to remain in majority.
The future of the four-month-old B S Yediyurappa-led BJP government in Karnataka will be clear today after the counting of votes in the crucial byelections to 15 assembly constituencies.
The counting of votes polled in the December 5 polls, which saw a voter turnout of 67.91 per cent, will began at 8 am in 11 centres and all the results are most likely to be out by the afternoon.
The bypolls were held to fill the vacancies caused by the disqualification of 17 rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs, whose revolt led to collapse of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July and paved the way for BJP to come to power.
The outcome of the bypoll is crucial for BJP which needs to win at least six seats to remain in majority.
