(FE)
The counting of votes for the by-elections on 15 assembly seats in Karnataka that went to polls on December 5 is underway at 11 centres in the state. The election results will have a bearing on the future of the four-month-old BJP government led by BS Yediyurappa. The elections had taken place at Yellapur, Ranebennur, Vijayanagar, Yashwanthapur, Mahalakshmi Layout, Chikkaballapura, KR Puram, Shivajinagar, KR Pet, Hunsur, Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Hirekerur and Hoskote. Heavy security has been deployed at 11 counting centres and other places around the state. The government has imposed prohibitory orders and clamped down on activities to check the law and order situation.
Twelve of the 15 seats were previously held by the Congress and the remaining three by the Janata Dal Secular (JDS). The polling took place on December 5. According to the Election Commission, 67.91% polling was recorded. The ruling BJP needs to win at least six seats to remain in the majority. The assembly will still have two vacant seats where bypolls were not due to pending litigation in the High Court. BJP’s strongman and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had won the confidence motion on July 29 after the effective strength of the 225-member assembly came down to 208 and the majority mark to 105. The BJP has 105 MLAs in the current Assembly.
