Bengaluru: Biennial elections to seven Karnataka legislative council seats will be held at Vidhana Soudha Thursday, with counting scheduled to begin at 5pm.The election will be conducted via secret ballot, with members of the legislative assembly serving as electors. While six seats — four for Congress and two for BJP — are virtually decided, an intense contest for the seventh seat has triggered resort politics, mock voting drills and elaborate efforts by parties to prevent cross voting and absenteeism.Assembly secretary MK Vishalakshi has been appointed returning officer, while director BS Mahalingesh will serve as assistant returning officer.Congress candidates BK Hariprasad, Tippanna Kamakanoor, PV Mohan and BS Shivanna are poised for victory, while BJP nominees Lingaraj Patil and Raghu Kautilya are also expected to sail through.The real contest is for the seventh seat between Congress’ Vinay Karthik and JD(S) nominee Govindaraju, turning the election into a test of numbers, party discipline and preferential voting.With the outcome hinging on a handful of votes, Congress and JD(S) shifted their legislators to resorts and conducted mock voting exercises. Party brass used model ballot papers to train MLAs on preferential voting and to minimise the risk of invalid votes.Congress faces the challenge of balancing votes. If it allocates 29 votes each to its first four candidates to ensure their victory, Karthik would be left with 24 votes. If it allocates 28 votes each, he would be left with just about the required strength and could also benefit from second preference votes.JD(S), meanwhile, is relying on support from its ally BJP. Besides its 18 MLAs, it is banking on seven BJP votes and support from expelled BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal. This would take its tally to 26 — still short of the estimated winning mark.BJP legislators met Wednesday to discuss strategy and vote allocation. Congress legislators were similarly briefed on voting procedures and preferential vote management, while Union minister HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S) met party MLAs late Wednesday to finalise strategy.Congress sources say Ramanagara MLA Iqbal Hussain, who is being treated in hospital after falling ill, is expected to arrive at Vidhana Soudha to cast his vote, highlighting the importance attached to every vote.
