Bengaluru, Oct 28 Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday said the Congress would introspect after failing to win any of the four Legislative Council seats, but maintained that the results did not reflect the state government’s performance.
The JD(S) wrested the Bengaluru Teachers’ Constituency from the ruling Congress, while the opposition BJP retained the North-East Teachers’, South-East Graduates’ and West Graduates’ constituencies.
“In a democracy, we have to respect the people’s decision and bow to their verdict. Every election is a wake-up call. We cannot dismiss the outcome of any election outright. However, I don’t think the results reflect the performance of the government,” he told reporters here.
Priyank said the Congress needed to strengthen its organisation and examine issues concerning teachers and graduates.
In the Bengaluru Teachers’ Constituency, JD(S) candidate A P Ranganath defeated sitting Congress MLC Puttanna by 908 votes.
BJP’s Shashil G Namoshi retained the North-East Teachers’ seat, defeating Congress candidate Sharanappa Mattur by 3,297 votes.
In the South-East Graduates’ Constituency, BJP candidate K M Suresh defeated Congress nominee Shashi Hulikunte Mutt by 23,098 votes, while sitting BJP MLC S V Sankanur retained the West Graduates’ seat, defeating Congress candidate Mohan Limbikai by 9,323 votes.
Priyank said the elections involved a limited professional electorate, with candidates often having established ties to the teaching community.
He cautioned against dismissing the results as politically insignificant, describing the Bengaluru contest as closely fought.
Describing Puttanna’s defeat as surprising, the minister said the party would introspect, identify its shortcomings and take corrective measures.
Responding to BJP state president B Y Vijayendra’s claim that the MLC results signalled the Congress government’s defeat in the 2028 Assembly elections, Priyank said his party was confident of returning to power.
“We are confident of returning to power in 2028. We are moving forward under the leadership of D K Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, G Parameshwara and Mallikarjun Kharge,” he said.
He challenged the BJP to seek elections if it was confident of its position, and accused it of indulging in “emotional politics”, while asserting that the Congress was focused on livelihoods, employment and economic progress.
Asked why ballot papers were used in the MLC elections despite the Congress’s concerns over electronic voting machines (EVMs), Priyank said such polls, which are traditionally held by ballot paper, involved a limited electorate and were not comparable to general elections.
He called for an “ethical hackathon” to scientifically examine EVMs, saying any problems identified should be rectified. He suggested using ballot papers in forthcoming Zilla Panchayat elections and, if necessary, in Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
“Let the Election Commission put its house in order, ensure that the SIR process is proper, and make both ballot-paper voting and electoral rolls transparent. Once that is done, the results of elections will speak for themselves,” he said.
On allegations of irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, including the bulk distribution of pre-printed Form-7 applications and claims that voters had been wrongly listed as deceased, Priyank said the government would examine the matter and establish the facts.
“We will examine whose names have been deleted, why they were deleted, and how it happened. Whatever the facts are, we will bring the truth to light,” he said.
Priyank alleged that 40 Form-7 applications submitted from a single polling booth in Chitapur were bogus and said election officials had filed a complaint.
He referred to the alleged vote-deletion case in Aland, claiming that 5,994 of the 6,018 applications submitted were fake. A 22,000-page chargesheet has been filed in the case, he said.
He alleged that the SIR exercise was aimed at keeping sections of society out of the electoral process and said the government would pursue the matter.
On the proposal to de-notify additional protest sites in Bengaluru and elsewhere in Karnataka, Priyank said the government was examining suggestions from activists to make more locations available for demonstrations.
“The government has no intention of curbing citizens’ rights. At the same time, other citizens also have rights that must be protected. We have to strike a balance between the right to protest and the rights of those affected by protests,” he said.
(PTI News)
