S.V. Sankanur Wins West Graduates' Constituency Seat for Third Consecutive Time

Bharatiya Janata Party candidate S.V. Sankanur has won the Karnataka Legislative Council election from the West Graduates' Constituency for the third time in a row. He defeated Congress candidate Mohan Limbikai by a margin of 9,323 votes.

Counting Details

The counting of votes took place at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Dharwad. It started at 8 a.m. on October 27 and ended at 2 a.m. on October 28. Sankanur received 33,711 first-preference votes, while Limbikai secured 24,388 votes. Independent candidate Kantakumar R. came in third with 4,055 votes. Returning Officer and Belagavi Regional Commissioner K.M. Janaki announced the final results, stating that 73,691 votes were polled in total. Out of these, 63,446 votes were valid, and 10,245 votes were rejected as invalid. Notably, the number of invalid votes is higher than the winner's victory margin.

Other Candidates and Context

There were 14 candidates in the fray for this election. Other candidates included independent Dr. G.H. Imrapur with 338 votes, Umesh Krishnappa Daivajna with 228 votes, Nishant Shankar Bankapur with 143 votes, Krishna H. Balegar of the Karnataka Rashtra Samithi with 141 votes, Abdul Mannan with 120 votes, and Santosh Manohar Vernikar with 85 votes. The remaining candidates all secured fewer than 100 votes each. Sankanur took an initial lead of 2,065 votes after the first round of counting, which grew steadily across the subsequent five rounds. Mohan Limbikai previously won this seat for the BJP back in 2008 by defeating former Minister H.K. Patil, but his attempt to win it back for the Congress this time was unsuccessful.

Context

Legislative council elections in India often use the single transferable vote system where voters rank candidates by preference. Such graduate constituency elections require voters to hold a recognized degree qualification to cast their ballots. The completion of the counting process without disruptions reflects the standard administrative procedures managed by election officials in the state.