Rajya Sabha polls: Congress wins 3 seats in Karnataka, BJP one after cross-voting

The Congress party has won three Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to secure only one seat after one of its MLAs cross-voted in favour of the ruling party in the state.

Voting for four seats from the state for the Upper House of Parliament took place today.

Congress candidates Ajay Maken, Nasser Hussain and GC Chandrashekar emerged victorious after securing 47, 46 and 46 votes, respectively, and will now represent the party in Rajya Sabha.

From the BJP, Narayana Bandige was elected to the Upper House.

The BJP suffered a massive setback in the southern state with its MLA ST Somashekar voting for Congress candidate Ajay Maken, while another MLA Arbail Shivaram Hebbar abstaining from voting.

Speaking about the Rajya Sabha election, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the results show unity and intergrity of Congress. 

"I thank all the MLAs, party workers and the media. I'm very happy to inform you that all Congress candidates have won. I thank all voters, CM and party workers and the AICC President also. I would like to thank Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge," he said.

The voting process concluded with 99.5 per cent turnout, as 222 out of a total of 223 voters exercised their franchise.

Five candidates were in the fray for the four seats in the elections, including JD(S) contestant D Kupendra Reddy.