BJP, Facing Test, Begins Strong In Karnataka Bypoll Counting: 10 Points

Karnataka bypoll result 2019: Counting is taking place under heavy security.

Bengaluru:
The future of Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s four-month-old BJP government will be decided today as votes from last week’s bypolls in 15 seats are counted. The counting of votes began at 8 am. Bypolls were held on December 5 for 15 of 17 assembly seats left vacant by MLAs who resigned in July, causing the collapse of the Congress-Janata Dal Secular (JDS) coalition and the BJP’s takeover. The outcome of these bypolls are crucial for the ruling BJP – they must win at least seven seats to claim a majority in the House, which will have a strength of 224 after the bypolls (two seats are still vacant). The BJP currently has 105 MLAS and the support of one independent candidate, while the Congress has 66 and the JDS 34.

Here’s your 10-point cheatsheet to this big story:

1. Twelve of the 15 seats were previously held by the Congress and the remaining three by the Janata Dal-Secular (JDS).

2. Counting is taking place under heavy security. The government has imposed prohibitory orders and clamped down on activities that could disturb law and order.

3. The election saw former allies Congress and JDS contest separately. Relations between the two, tenuous at best, broke down after their coalition crashed.

4. However, in a move similar to that which the opposition managed in Maharashtra – where the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the NCP formed an unlikely alternative front – the Congress and JDS may reunite like they did after Assembly elections last year, if they do have a chance to keep the BJP from power in Karnataka.

5. The BJP is confident of winning 13 of the 15 seats on offer. Mr Yediyurappa told reporters: “We will complete our term. Even people have the same expectations from us”.

6. The opposition has declared that the BJP will be undone by its support of the MLAs who quit their coalition earlier this year in hugely controversial circumstances.

7. After a dramatic stand-off that included a showdown at a Mumbai hotel, the MLAs who quit were disqualified by then-Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar and barred from elections till 2023. However, the Supreme Court, while upholding the disqualification, said they could contest.

8. The Congress’s campaign slogan – Defeat The Disqualified – reflected that sentiment. The BJP has fielded 13 of the MLAs who quit, with the Chief Minister describing them as “future ministers”.

9. Should the BJP fail to win the required number of seats, Karnataka could be in for a fresh bout of political drama, particularly if the Congress and the JDS come together once more.

10. If the BJP does secure a majority then Mr Yediyurappa faces a difficult challenge – to keep his pre-poll promise he will need to accommodate MLAs who won their seats after quitting the Congress-JDS. Many party workers and leaders were unhappy at the decision to field the rebels. Some joined other parties and the son of a sitting BJP MP contested as an independent.

This post “BJP, Facing Test, Begins Strong In Karnataka Bypoll Counting: 10 Points” is originally from NDTV News – Top-stories published on 2019-12-09 03:46:50. Hope you have liked the post. Don’t forget to share it using the social share buttons below this post.

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