Lok Shakti Proves Jd In Karnataka Is A Divided House

V S Ugrappa, lone Lok Shakti candidate in the biennial polls to the Karnataka Legislative Council has succeeded in proving that the state Janata Dal is a divided house.

In the elections to the Upper House held last Friday, he pushed the ruling Janata Dal-Congress candidate, Rani Satish, to the brink of defeat. Satish ultimately won the seventh seat in the seventh round by less than one vote.

Ugrappa had the support of seven MLAs of the Rashtriya Nava Nirmana Vedike (RNNV). But the BJP, a Lok Shakti ally, had allotted only six of its eight surplus first preference votes to him. But Ugrappa polled 23 first preference votes indicating that at least a dozen Janata Dal and Congress MLAs had indulged in cross voting. At the end of the seventh round of counting, Satish had polled 26.82 votes against Ugrappa`s 26.

 

Despite the cross voting, the JD-Congress combine won all but one of the seven seats for which elections were held. The BJP won the other.

A disheartened Chief Minister JH Patel refused to comment on the outcome of the polls. However, state JD president BL Shankar claimed that the Dal legislators had voted for their party nominees but the associate members seemed to have violated the whip. We will inquire into the episode to initiate appropriate action, he said.