Over 99% voter turnout, results to have bearing on power equation in Legislative Council
K'taka MLC polls
Results to be declared on Dec 14
Bengaluru, Dec 10: An estimated over 99 per cent voter turnout has been recorded during the biennial election to the Karnataka Legislative Council's 25 seats from 20 Local Authorities' Constituencies on Friday, the results of which will have a bearing on the power equation in the Upper House of the State Legislature.
The polling that began at 8 am on Friday ended at 4 pm. The results will be declared on December 14.
"The polling process concluded peacefully," the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, said in a statement.
According to the tentative poll turnout data shared by it, all the constituencies recorded over 99 per cent turnout till 4 pm.
Out of the total 90 candidates in the fray, 20 each were from BJP and Congress, six from JD(S), 33 independents, and rest were all from smaller parties. There was only one woman candidate in the fray, contesting from Chickmagalur constituency.
The electorate for this election comprises legislators, elected members of urban and rural local bodies. Unlike legislative assembly or Lok Sabha polls, the council contests are decided by preferential votes.
The election was necessitated as the term of 25 incumbent MLCs 14 Congress, seven BJP and four JD(S) ends on January 5.
The poll outcome will have a bearing on the power equation in the 75-member Upper House, where the ruling BJP wants to gain a majority.
The BJP that has expressed confidence about winning maximum seats needs to win at least 13 seats to secure a majority. The good performance in this election will also be a morale booster for the party after losing Hangal seat in the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's home district of Haveri during the recent Assembly bypolls.
The Congress too is determined to win maximum seats to keep the BJP away from gaining control of the upper house; while JD(S) has expressed confidence about winning all the six seats it is contesting in.
With the aim to get a majority in the Council, State BJP strongman and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, ahead of the polls, openly sought JD(S)' support for BJP candidates in the seats where the regional party was not contesting.
However, amid buzz about a possible pact with the ruling BJP, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy had recently said local leaders have been authorised to take a decision on whom to support in the seats where his party is not contesting, keeping in mind the prospects for the 2023 Assembly election.
Speaking to reporters after casting vote in Shiggaon, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said BJP will win all the States it is contesting in, and has put efforts for it.
While the State Congress President D K Shivakumar said his party expects to win more seats than it expected, and termed Yediyurappa seeking JD(S)' support as a sign of BJP losing strength.
JD(S)' H D Kumaraswamy, too, expressing confidence about winning six seats that the party is contesting in, said this council polls will strengthen the party's base for 2023 Assembly polls and set a tone for a new politics in the State.
The elections were held for two seats each from the local authorities constituencies of Bijapur, Belgaum, Dharwad, Dakshina Kannada and Mysuru; and one each from Bidar, Gulbarga, Uttara Kannada, Raichur, Bellary, Chitradurga, Shivamogga, Chikmagalur, Hassan, Tumakuru, Mandya, Bangalore, Bangalore Rural, Kolar and Kodagu.
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'Traitor' jibe: HC issues notice to police, Sena MLA on Kamra's plea against FIR
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to Mumbai police and Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel on comedian Kunal Kamra's plea challenging an FIR lodged against him for allegedly passing a "traitor" jibe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
A division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and S M Modak said it would hear Kamra's petition on April 16.
The comedian has failed to appear before the Mumbai police for questioning despite three summons issued to him.
Following a complaint by Sena MLA Murji Patel, the Khar police in Mumbai last month registered the FIR against Kamra under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 353(1)(b) (statements conducing to public mischief) and 356(2) (defamation).
"Issue notice to the respondents (police and Patel). They shall take instructions and respond to the plea," the HC said.
Three FIRs registered against the comedian at Nashik Rural, Jalgaon and Nashik (Nandgaon) have also been transferred to the Khar police.
Kamra's counsel Navroz Seervai informed the Bombay HC bench that the Madras High Court on Monday extended till April 17 the earlier interim transit anticipatory bail granted to the comedian.
The petitioner has offered in writing thrice to the police to allow him to appear for questioning via video conference in light of the dangers and threat to his life, Seervai said.
"It seems that the police authorities are not so keen on recording his statement but more on bringing him here physically," the senior counsel claimed.
Kamra is presently in Tamil Nadu where he has been residing since 2021, as per his plea.
"This is not a case of murder. It is an FIR that has stemmed from a stand-up comedy show. He (Kamra) is ready to cooperate with the probe but through video conference," Seervai said.
The bench said it would consider all issues on April 16.
During the show, stand-up comedian Kamra had taunted Shinde, without taking his name, using a modified version of a Hindi song from the film "Dil To Pagal Hai" where he called him a "gaddar" (traitor).
The comedian went on to joke about how Shinde rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray's leadership (in June 2022).
In his plea filed on April 5, Kamra claimed the complaints against him were violative of his fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression, right to practice any profession and business and right to life and liberty guaranteed under the Constitution of India.
He sought for the FIR to be quashed, claiming the allegations, even if taken at face value, do not constitute an offence.
The comedian also sought the HC to protect him from any coercive action including arrest, seizure of his personal electronic devices and examination of his financial transactions and accounts.
"To permit the investigation to continue would constitute a frontal assault on the freedom of speech and expression. Should a citizen's right to comment on the political developments and actions of political leaders be criminalised in this manner?" the petition said.
Kamra said his remarks made regarding the split in the Shiv Sena, Shinde quitting Uddhav Thackeray's Sena faction and being sworn in as the chief minister at the time (in 2022) are all part of records.
The plea said the FIR has been registered on a stand-up comedy performance, which provides satirical commentary on various social and political events of the country.
There has been a gross abuse of process and the malafide deployment of the criminal justice machinery by a member of the state's legislative assembly, resulting in a patent violation of a citizen's fundamental rights, it claimed.
As per the petition, Kamra wrote the show's script in July 2024 and performed it on 60 occasions between August last year and February 2025.
A recording of the show was uploaded only in March 2025, pursuant to which case was lodged, it said.
