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 BJP won the North-East Teachers’ constituency, the South-East Graduates’ and the West Graduates’ constituencies. 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. Its ally JD(S) took the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency. 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. 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 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.
