As the three major political parties sweated it out for poll position in the Karnataka assembly elections, several sitting MPs and MLCs also tried their luck at campaigning, with most of them proving to be victorious. As a result, Karnataka will see as many as nine by-elections and elections as candidates from the state legislative council and Members of Parliament have won assembly seats.
This most definitely includes chief minister-designate H D Kumaraswamy, who resigned from Ramanagara but retained Channapatna.
By-elections or elections will be necessitated for five winners from BJP, two from JD(S) and two from Congress party.
Expectedly, the greatest washout even in this case will be the BJP who will now need to supplant an overwhelming weight in K S Eshwarappa, the pioneer of the opposition in the upper house. Eshwarappa, won the Shivamogga City assembly and has given up the MLC post. V Somanna and Basavaraj Patil Yatnal are other such members.
The JD(S) has additionally provoked by-elections by fielding their Mandya MP C S Puttaraju from Melukote and Kumaraswamy who won both Ramanagara and Channapatna seats.
For the Congress, just like the case in the lower house, its numbers are not solid in the upper house either. Elections in 2018 have likewise observed two – Byrathi S Suresh and Mahantesh Shivanand Koujalgi – of their own MLCs challenging the assembly elections and winning.
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