Karnataka CM wins LC bypoll

BANGALAORE: Karnataka Chief Minister DV Sadanand Gowda on Thursday crossed the major hurdle to continue in office by getting himself elected to the Upper House with a huge margin. But what remains to be seen is whether or not he would withstand the efforts of his predecessor BS Yeddyurappa to dislodge him as early as possible.As expected, Gowda won the council byelection held on Thursday. He was polled 123 votes, whereas his opponent Congress candidate Anand Gaddadevaramath had to satisfy with just 69 votes. As many as six votes were declared invalid as these MLAs had written a tick mark instead of the number assigned by the Election Commission against their choice of candidate. BJP MLA from Ron Kalakappa Bandi’s vote was not considered as he showed it to the CM, who was also present in the polling booth, before dropping it into the ballot box. After noticing Bandi showing his vote to the CM, the election officers who were present in the booth immediately snatched the ballot paper and sent him out. Of these invalid votes, according to sources, two were from the Congress and four from independents. The ruling BJP, however, claimed that all the seven invalid votes were in favour of Gowda.As many as 199 members, including Speaker KG Bopaiah and nominated member  Derrick Fullinfaw, cast their votes, while JDS, as announced earlier, abstained from the voting, thus indirectly helping Gowda to sail through the test. With this victory,  Gowda can continue in office till the end of the tenure of this Assembly provided there were no problems from former CM BS Yeddyurappa, who is nursing a hope to come back as the Chief Minister. Immediately after his victory, the elated CM thanked all his MLAs, particularly the independents and the JDS, for voting him. “I am happy to become the member of the Upper House. I thank all my MLAs for reposing faith in me,” said Gowda. Gowda, who is also a member of Parliament from Chikkamagalur, said he would resign his Lok Sabha seat in a week. As per rules, he had to resign either  post within 15 days.