Congress shifted its MLAs to a Bengaluru South resort, while JD(S) relocated its legislators to Devanahalli ahead of Thursday's crucial voting.
Candidates require twenty-eight first-preference votes to win, guaranteeing easy victories for four Congress and two BJP nominees.
The main contest is for the seventh seat, where Congress candidate Karthik is short of two votes but expects second-preference support.
Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) have sequestered their respective legislators at resorts around Bengaluru to prevent cross-voting and absenteeism in Thursday's Karnataka Legislative Council elections. The defensive deployments come as the parties vie for seven available seats.
Congress shifted its Members of Legislative Assembly to a facility in Bengaluru South district. The party will ferry them directly to the Vidhana Soudha for the poll on Thursday. The JD(S) relocated its representatives to Devanahalli. The candidate field features five nominees from Congress, two from the Bharatiya Janata Party, and a final-hour entrant from the JD(S).
Fears of Cross Voting
Congress leadership briefed its representatives during a legislature party meeting on Tuesday evening. According to The Indian Express, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the JD(S) had approached some Congress legislators. Following the meeting, the party ordered members to remain at the resort and trained them on the preferential voting system.
Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy rejected the accusations of poaching.
"We have fielded one candidate just to ensure that our party votes remain together. We are not looking to win the seat at any cost by employing wily means," Kumaraswamy said.
The Electoral Math
Candidates require 28 first-preference votes to secure an outright victory in the opening round. The threshold guarantees success for four Congress nominees — Karnataka Congress president BK Hariprasad, Tippannappa Kamaknoor, P V Mohan, and Shivanna Malavalli. Two BJP candidates, Lingaraj Patil and Raghu Kautilya, are also positioned for comfortable wins.
The battle centres on the seventh seat. Congress remains two votes short for its fifth candidate, Karthik, but anticipates victory through second-preference distributions.
The JD(S) candidate lacks the requisite support, even factoring in potential backing from the BJP and rebel BJP legislator Basangouda Patil Yatnal. The regional party also faces internal friction following a recent fallout with prominent MLA GT Deve Gowda.
"Ours is a small party. What can we do? They (Congress) have the manpower, muscle power, and money power. Can we fight against them?" Kumaraswamy asked, noting his party had requested surplus BJP votes.
The BJP scheduled its own legislature party meeting for Wednesday evening to finalise its polling strategy.
