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

Congress won 3 Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka while BJP secured one after cross-voting on Tuesday. Congress candidates Ajay Maken, GC Chandrasekhar and Syed Naseer Hussain won the Rajya Sabha polls in Karnataka after securing 47, 46 and 46 votes respectively. Meanwhile, BJP's Narayanasa Bhandage won a seat in the Rajya Sabha polls.

Five candidates were in the fray for the four seats in the elections, including JD(S) contestant D Kupendra Reddy. The elections were marred by cross-voting. While one of the BJP MLAs, S T Somashekar, voted for the Congress's Maken, the other, A Shivaram Hebbar, abstained.

Earlier, Saffron party MLA S T Somashekar voted for Congress candidate Ajay Maken while another MLA Arbail Shivaram Hebbar abstained from



voting in the Rajya Sabha elections for four seats in Karnataka on Tuesday. Somashekar and Hebbar, who are upset with the BJP, were seen getting closer with the Congress in recent months. 

Somashekar represents Yashwantpur assembly constituency and Hebbar from Yellapur segment. "We have got the information that Somashekar has done cross-voting. I believe that people do not like cheating every now and then," the Leader of Opposition R Ashoka told reporters here.

"I consulted with advocate Vivek Reddy who is our state legal cell president and a high court lawyer. We will ask the Speaker to initiate action against him (Somashekar) and explore the possibilities to take steps in accordance with the law," the former deputy chief minister said.