The results of the election to the Legislative Council did not bring cheer to the Janata Dal (Secular) as among the two seats the party held, it lost one seat and was trailing in third place in the other.
While former Chairman Basavaraj Horatti shifted to the BJP and retained his seat, the party that was hoping to retain South Graduates’ constituency was trailing. The party had faced an uphill task in South Graduates after it replaced incumbent member K.T. Srikante Gowda with H.K. Ramu, the former president of the Government Employees Association. This was resented by another MLC Marithibbe Gowda, who, disappointed at his aide not getting the ticket, rebelled against the party candidate.
The setback to the party follows its earlier defeat in December 2021 when the party’s candidate lost from its bastion Mandya during the elections to the Legislative Council from the local authorities constituency. The regional party’s strength in the council over the last couple of years has shrunk by half from 16 to now eight.
Seven to take oath
The seven MLCs, who were elected unopposed recently from the Legislative Assembly, will take oath on Thursday. They are BJP members Laxman Savadi, Hemalatha Nayak, S. Keshavprasad, and Chalavadi Narayanswamy, Congress members K. Abdul Jabbar and M. Nagaraju Yadav, and Janata Dal (Secular) member T.A. Sharavana. Though the election was scheduled for June 3, they were declared elected earlier.
