K'taka by-poll: With smashing victory these BJP MLAs to become Ministers

Bengaluru: Expressing joy over BJP's stellar performance in the Assembly by-elections in Karnataka, the party's state chief Nalin Kumar Kateel on Monday said Congress and JD(S) have been "disqualified" in the people's court.

"Siddaramaiah (Congress) and H D Kumaraswamy (JDS) had created a narrative of 'disqualified MLAs' to discredit our candidates, but today the Congress and the JD(S) have been disqualified in the people's court and have given a verdict of 'Qualified' to our candidates," Kateel told reporters here.

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The BJP had fielded 13 of the 15 turncoats, who were previously in Congress and the JD(S), but were disqualified by then Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar for indulging in anti-party activities.

Kateel was happy that the party made its presence felt for the first time in Mandya district.

"There were some regions where we never had our presence such as KR Pet and Chikkaballapura.

Mandya had been the JD(S) citadel but today the BJP has won (in KR Pet in Mandya district)," he added.

The BJP state chief said he was confident that the Yediyurappa government would successfully complete its three- and-half year term and lead the state towards progress.

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The counting of Karnataka by-elections votes had begun at 8am, on December 07.

The ruling BJP had taken an early lead in 10 out of 15 Assembly constituencies and had bagged four seats and was leading in eight others as the B S Yediyurappa-led government appeared on course to sweep the by-polls and retain a majority.

The opposition Congress and JDS faced a huge setback.

The Congress, which had won 12 of those 15 seats in the previous election, was leading only in two segments -- Hunsur and Shivajinagar.

Initial trends showed the Congress and JD(S) were ahead in two seats, while independent candidate was maintaining lead in Hoskote.

BJP candidates who are leading are- Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur), Anand Singh (Vijayanagara), Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), B C Patil (Hirekerur), Shrimant Patil (Kagwad), K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura), Mahesh Kumthalli (Athani), Arun Kumar Guttur (Ranebennur), Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout) and Byrathi Basavaraj (K R Puram).

BJP candidate from Yellapur Arabail Shivaram Hebbar became the first candidate to register a victory in the bypolls to 15 assembly constituencies in Karnataka, for which the counting is underway on Monday.

Hebbar defeated Congress' Bhimanna Naik by a margin of over 31,000 votes, poll officials said, adding that official announcement was awaited.

A two-time Congress MLA from Yellapur, Hebbar was among 13 disqualified MLA whom the BJP had given ticket to contest the bypoll as party candidate.

Congress nominees H P Manjunath (Hunsur) and Rizwan Arshad (Shivajinagar) were leading; JD(S)' B L Devaraj and Javarayi Gowda were ahead in K R Pete and Yeshwanthpura respectively.

BJP's rebel and independent candidate Sharath Bachegowda, son of Chikkaballapura Lok Sabha member B N Bachegowda, was leading ahead of party's official candidate MTB Nagaraj in Hoskote.

The bypolls were held to fill 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 BJP needs to win at least six of the 15 seats to remain in majority in the 225-member assembly including the Speaker, who has a casting vote), which would still have two vacant seats -- Maski and R R Nagar.

In the assembly with the current strength of 208 after disqualifications, the BJP has 105 MLAs (including an independent), the Congress 66 and the JD(S) has 34 MLAs. There is also one BSP member, a nominated member and the Speaker.

The election results will have a bearing on the future of the four-month-old BJP government, led by B S Yediyurappa, in Karnataka.

The elections had taken place at Yellapur, Ranebennur, Vijayanagar, Yashwanthapur, Mahalakshmi Layout, Chikkaballapura, KR Puram, Shivajinagar, KR Pet, Hunsur, Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Hirekerur and Hoskote.

While the overall polling percentage was 67.91, the highest voter turnout was recorded in Hoskote assembly segment (90.9 per cent), whereas the lowest was KR Puram (46.74 per cent).

According to the poll officials, the first set of results may come by 11 am.

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These by-elections were necessitated due to the disqualification of 17 MLAs. While elections took place in 15 segments, the polls in the two other constituencies -- Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Maski -- will be held later as the matter is sub-judice.

As many as 165 candidates contested the election, though it is, by and large, a triangular fight between the Congress, BJP and the JD(S).

Assembly Mathematics of Parties:

The BJP has fielded 13 of the 16 disqualified legislators, who joined the party after the Supreme Court allowed them to contest the by-polls, as its candidates from the constituencies they had won in the 2018 assembly elections on the Congress and JD(S) tickets.

The BJP and Congress were pitted in direct contest in most of the constituencies that went for the by-polls, in the southern parts of the state JD(S) was also in the fray, making it a triangular fight. In Hosakote, BJP rebel and independent supported by JD(S) Sharth Bachegowda is a key factor.

The BJP needs at least six seats in an assembly of 221 seats minus speaker to continue in the government. Its failure to garner the required number of seats may result in another bout of political drama in the southern state.

Speculations were rife about the Congress and JD(S), which had parted ways on a bitter note after the collapse of the Kumaraswamy government, joining hands again and form a coalition government again, though leaders of the two parties have sent mixed signals on such a possibility.

If the ruling BJP cruises to majority, Yediyurappa would still face a tough task of cabinet expansion.

He will have to strike a balance by accommodating the victorious disqualified legislators in his ministry as promised by him and also make place for old-guards, who have been upset over being "neglected" in the first round.

Including the Chief Minister, currently there are 18 ministers in the cabinet, whose sanctioned strength is 34.

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