The Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituency polls to the state Legislative Council, sprung no surprises with the ruling BJP winning four of the six seats and one seat going to a JD(S) candidate. Counting is on for the remaining one seat. Legislative Council chairman and BJP candidate D.H. Shankaramurthy won the South-West Graduate constituency seat while Captain Ganesh Karnik won the South-West teachers’ constituency. Mr Y.A. Narayanaswamy (South-East Teachers’ constituency) and Amarnath Patil (North-East Graduates constituency) are the other BJP winners. Janata Dal (S)’ Marithibbe Gowda retained the South Teachers’ constituency.
In Bangalore Graduates’ constituency, BJP’s Ramachandra Gowda is reportedly leading by a slender margin of 100 votes. The only surprises were the thin lead of Ramachandra Gowda and the impressive debut made by Independent candidate Dr Ashwin Mahesh. Several well known personalities including former Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde and former Infosys HR director Mohandas Pai had lent support to him during his campaign. The Congress drew a blank. Though the BJP won the majority of seats, the fact that Ramachandra Gowda faced a tough battle indicates the scams and revolts in the party had their impact on voters.