BENGALURU: With candidates contesting the June 3 legislative council elections – from the assembly – set to win ‘unopposed’, BJP needs to win only one of the four seats from teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies to secure a clear majority in the upper house of the state legislature. Elections from teachers’ and graduates’ seats will be held on June 13.
Seven candidates – four from BJP – for the June 3 elections will be elected by MLAs. Friday is the last day f or withdrawing nominat ions. Since no one is expected to withdraw and all nominations were found valid aft er scrutiny, officials say all seven will be declared winners on Friday itself.
BJP will then be only one short of a clear majority in t he council, but with funct ionaries confident of winning at least three of the four seats from teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies, the saffron party is certain of gaining a majority.
“We will emerge stronger and the passage of significant bills will be smoother from the next session,” said NY Narayanaswamy, BJP MLC and government chief whip in the legislative council.
The anti-conversion bill is among significant bills Narayanaswamy said the government is expected to pass in the monsoon session of the legislature which is expected to be called in July-August.
With 37 members, BJP is currently one seat short of a simple majority in the 75-member council. Because of this, it could not get the anti-conversion bill passed in the upper house and decided instead on an ordinance.
After the announcement of results on Friday, BJP’s strength in the council will rise to 39, since two of its members from the assembly quota will retire in June. However, two members of the party from teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies will retire in early July, reducing its strength to 37 again.
So, it needs to win just one seat out of four going to polls in the teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies for a simple majority.
Of the four segments for the June 13 elections, BJP currently holds two – Northwest Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies covering Belagavi, Bagalkot, and Vijayapura districts.
Besides West Teachers’, where former council chairman Basavaraj Horatti is contesting on a BJP ticket, BJP is confident of also winning South Graduates’ constituency, which covers Hassan, Mysuru, Mandya, and Chamarajanagar districts. It also is confident of retaining one of the two seats it holds in the Northwest.
“We are confident of winning all four seats, but to be practical, I would say we will definitely win three,” said BJP MLC N Ravikumar.
