The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular) alliance won all four Karnataka legislative council seats contested by teachers and graduates, delivering a major blow to the ruling Congress.
The JD(S) wrested the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency from the Congress, with AP Ranganath defeating sitting legislative council member and former deputy chairman Puttanna by 908 votes. Ranganath secured 10,810 votes against Puttanna’s 9,902. A clear mandate for the 2028 Assembly elections. The result in Bengaluru was particularly significant for the JD(S) since Puttanna, a five-term member, had left the party for the Congress ahead of the 2023 assembly elections.
The party also won the West Graduates’ constituency through S V Sankanur and the South-East Graduates’ constituency through K M Suresh, completing the alliance’s sweep. The BJP retained the North-East Teachers’ seat, where Shashil G Namoshi defeated Congress candidate Sharanappa Mattur. Union minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy described the result as a mandate extending beyond the four constituencies. “This victory is historic. He thanked workers from both parties and the teachers who supported Ranganath, crediting their joint campaign for the victory. The Congress sought to retain the seat, with chief minister D K Shivakumar campaigning for Puttanna. The loss gives the BJP and JD(S) an opportunity to question the ruling party’s ability to hold support among organised groups of teachers and graduates. JD(S) youth wing president Nikhil Kumaraswamy took a swipe at the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over allegations that voting machines were used to steal elections.
This election has shown that there is strength in unity and alliance,” he said in a post on X. Kumaraswamy said the outcome represented a defeat for what he called “lies, misgovernance, money power and muscle power”. “Now that educated teachers voted on paper right under your government’s nose, what’s today’s excuse, ‘Paper Chori’?” he said in a post on X.
