7 candidates elected 'unopposed' to Karnataka Legislative Council, BJP gains majority in House
Bengaluru, May 27: All the seven candidates in the fray for the biennial election to Karnataka Legislative Council, slated to be elected by the Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs), were on Friday declared as elected "unopposed".
The declaration paved the way for the BJP to gain a majority in the Upper House as four out of the seven new members are from the ruling party, two from Congress and JD(S) one.
The polls for seven seats were scheduled to be held on June 3, but on Friday, the last day to withdraw nominations, only seven candidates were in the fray and all of them were declared elected "unopposed", the Returning Officer for MLC polls and Secretary, Karnataka Legislative Assembly, M K Vishalakshi said.
The seven candidates declared elected include BJP's vice-president and former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi, party's state secretaries Hemalatha Nayak and S Keshavaprasad, and President of SC Morcha Chalavadi Narayanaswamy.
Congress' M Nagaraju Yadav, former chairman of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and K Abdul Jabbar, the President of KPCC's minority cell and a former MLC; and JD(S)' T A Saravana, a former MLC, were elected in the other three seats.
The election was necessitated as the term of office of seven members expires on June 14.
The seats will be falling vacant due to the retirement of MLCs -- Laxman Savadi and Lahar Singh Siroya of BJP; Ramappa Timmapur, Allum Veerabhadrappa, Veena Achaiah S of Congress; and H M Ramesha Gowda and Narayana Swamy K V of JD(S).
According to official sources, in case election was to be held, each MLC candidate would require a minimum of 29 votes to win. Based on the strength of each party in the Legislative Assembly, the BJP can win four seats, Congress two, and JD(S) one.
With the election of four BJP candidates, the ruling party will now have a majority in the Legislative Council until June 15, as numbers may alter thereafter, because results will be declared that day for June 13 polls to four MLC seats -- two teachers' and two graduates' constituencies.
Before the election outcome for seven seats was declared, the BJP had 37 members in the 75-member upper house, where it is just one short of a simple majority.
While the Congress had a strength of 26 members, the JD(S) had 10 members. There is also one independent member other than the Chairman.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
