Voting underway for 15 Assembly seats in Karnataka bypolls

Millions of voters queued up in Karnataka on Thursday morning to vote for the by-elections in 15 assembly constituencies, being seen as a mini assembly poll as the outcome could decide the fate of the BS Yediyurappa-led BJP government.

The polling began at 7am and is scheduled to end at 6pm, the results of which will be declared on December 9.

The polls on these seats were necessitated after the disqualification of 17 members of legislative assembly (MLAs), who had resigned from the state assembly in July this year over their differences with the Congress-Janata Dal(Secular) coalition government.

Numbers

There are 37,77,970 electors who are eligible to cast their votes at 4185 polling stations in these constituencies.

There are also 4711 service voters. Among the eligible electors 19,25,529 are men, 18,52,027 women and 414 others. Among them, 79,714 are young voters.

There are 165 candidates in the fray of which 156 are men and nine are women.

Out of the 15 constituencies going to the by-polls, 12 were held by the Congress and three by the JD(S).

The BJP and the Congress have 15 candidates each in the fray, 12 of the JD(S) and the remaining are from smaller parties and Independents.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded 13 of the 16 disqualified legislators, who had joined the party, as its candidates from their respective constituencies from where they had won in the last assembly elections in 2018 on Congress and JD(S) tickets.

The Election Commission had withheld the elections for two seats—Maski and Rajarajeshwari—as the petitions against these assembly constituencies are pending in Karnataka High Court.

Crucial polls

In July, the Congress-JD(S) coalition government led by former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy had collapsed after 17 of its MLAs resigned. The resignations also reduced the majority mark in 224-strong assembly to 104.

These by-polls are being considered very crucial for all three major parties.

BS Yediyurappa has claimed that there was a wave in favour of the BJP across all the constituencies.

“The Congress and JD(S) work are not visible on the field. We will win all of them. There is a desire for a stable government under my leadership in the state and we will deliver the same,” he told reporters in Hubballi.

Congress Legislature Party leader and former CM Siddaramaiah, holding forth at a roadshow in Hunsur, said “Don’t waste votes on JD(S) as they won’t win. If you want to defeat the BJP, vote for Congress.”

He also claimed that there was no possibility of Congress again entering into an alliance with JD(S) post the declaration of result. “At least for now. If such a situation arises then the party high command will take a decision,” he had added.

Alliances

Siddaramaiah’s statement ruling out an alliance with the JD(S) was in contrast to the Congress party’s leader in the legislative council SR Patil. Patil had claimed that after December 9 the BJP government would fall and that a new Congress-JD(S) coalition government would once again take reins of power in the state.

HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S), while drumming up support for his party’s candidate in Shivajinagar constituency of Bengaluru, exuded confidence that his party would win at least six to seven seats.

He, however, said that no decision has been taken on any alliance with any party.

Another senior leader of JD(S) Kona Reddy said that after the results, his party would emerge as ‘kingmakers.’

Political analyst Prof Harish Ramaswamy said that the outcome of the by-polls would be crucial for all the three main political parties in the state.

“If the BJP wins anything less than 9-10 seats, Yediyurappa’s own continuation as CM is in doubt. Unlike in the past, not a single major Central leader has participated in canvassing even though the survival of the government is at stake,” Ramaswamy said.

“If the JD(S) doesn’t do well, the party might even break with some legislators looking for a better future. If the Congress doesn’t do well, all blame will be laid at Siddaramaiah’s feet by the many internal rivals. Karnataka is in for interesting political times one way or the other post the results,” he said.

In the 224 member assembly, two seats are vacant due to legal disputes. For a simple majority, a government needs to have the support of at least 112 members in an effective 222-member House.

The BJP currently has 105 members and also the support of an Independent candidate. The Congress party has 66 MLAs while JD(S) has 34.

There is also one unaligned Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) member in the house. The BJP needs to win at least six of the 15 seats to ensure the survival of its government.

Prohibitory orders under Section144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which prohibits an assembly of more than four people in an area, has been imposed in constituencies under the jurisdiction of Bengaluru Commissionerate, including Mahalakshmi Layout, KR Puram, Shivaji Nagar and Yeshwantpura.

The other constituencies polling are Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Yellapur, Hirekerur, Ranibennur, Vijayanagar, Chikballapur, Hoskote, KR Pet and Hunsur.

The Election Commission and police have made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of the by-polls in all the 15 constituencies.