The BJP mocked Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar after the ruling Congress suffered a clean sweep, losing all four seats in the Legislative Council elections to the BJP and its ally JD(S).
“DK, it’s done, bro! NDA SWEEPS 4/4 Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituencies in the MLC elections!” the BJP’s Karnataka unit posted on X, sharing a photograph of Shivakumar with marigold flowers on his head.
The picture was originally taken in February 2023, when Shivakumar staged an unusual protest inside Vidhana Soudha against the state budget presented by then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. The BJP reused the image to ridicule the Congress leader following the party’s defeat in all four constituencies.
The JD(S) wrested the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency from the Congress, while the BJP retained the North-East Teachers’, South-East Graduates’ and West Graduates’ seats.
In Bengaluru, JD(S) candidate AP Ranganath, who received BJP support, defeated sitting Congress MLC Puttanna by 908 votes. Puttanna had contested the election in an attempt to secure another term.
In the North-East Teachers’ constituency, BJP MLC Shashil G Namoshi defeated Congress candidate Sharanappa Mattur, officials said. Namoshi secured his fifth victory from the seat, which covers Kalaburagi, the home turf of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The results came as a setback for the Congress, which had hoped to retain its only seat and make gains in the remaining constituencies. Voting for all four seats took place on October 23, with ballot papers used in the elections.
Reacting to the outcome, JD(S) youth wing president Nikhil Kumaraswamy criticised senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his allegations of vote theft.
In a post on X, he pointed out that electronic voting machines were not used, the state administration was controlled by the Congress, and the elections were conducted using paper ballots. He then questioned whether the party would now blame “paper chori” (paper theft) for its defeat.
The MLC elections served as a test of coordination between the BJP and JD(S), alliance partners in Karnataka, and their ability to consolidate support behind each other’s candidates. With the opposition alliance winning all four seats, it has gained fresh ammunition to target the ruling Congress.
