Congress' candidate Ghotnekar wins Uttara Kannada in MLC elections

Congress' candidate Ghotnekar wins Uttara Kannada in MLC elections Bhatkal: Srikant Ghotnekar of the Congress won the Legislative Council elections from the single member Uttara Kannada local bodies constituency. Mr. Ghotnekar has defeated his nearest rival Ganapati Ulvekar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), by 737 votes. Mr. Ghotnekar polled 1,742 votes against 1,005 by Mr. Ulvekar. The BJP’s efforts to benefit from the internal issues of the Congress failed. The Ruling Congress in Karnataka has won 13 of the 25 legislative council seats that went to polls on December 27 — two short of the 15-seat target that would have given it control of the Upper House. The BJP bagged six seats, JD(S) four and Independents two seats. The Congress will now have to rely on the support of the Independents and the JD(S) to push through legislation in the 75-member Vidhan Parishad. Prior to the polls, the BJP controlled the legislative council with 30 members while the Congress had 28 and the JD(S) 11. There were four Independents and one vacant seat. Seven BJP members will be retiring on January 5, which will leave the party with 29 members. The Congress, which has 13 members retiring next week, will have 28 seats and the JD(S) strength will remain at 11. The Congress won in Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Mysuru, Shivamogga, Bellary, Raichur, Bidar, Hasan, Vijayapura, Uttar Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Davanagere and Chitradurga. BJP won in Madikeri, Chikkamagaluru, Dharwad, Dakshina Kannada, Kalburgi and Belagavi. In a shock defeat, the JD(S) lost in Hassan, the home base of JD(S) H D Devegowda. With inputs from Agencies