Ranganath defeats Puttanna for Bengaluru Teachers seat

Janata Dal Secular candidate A. P. Ranganath defeated Congress incumbent Puttanna in the Bengaluru Teachers constituency, winning a seat the Congress had held for five terms in the Karnataka Legislative Council. Ranganath received 10,810 first-preference votes to Puttanna’s 9,902, a margin of 908, according to the returning officer’s announcement. The BJP-JDS alliance backed Ranganath in the contest. The result was announced on October 27, following polling on October 23. The constituency recorded 81.98% turnout among 27,405 registered voters, with 22,468 casting ballots. The returning officer reported that 21,056 votes were valid and 1,857 were rejected. Independent candidate Umesh Babu Pillegowda received 215 votes, while Karnataka Rashtra Samithi candidate Dr. G. R. Hebbur received 94. The outcome ends Puttanna’s five-term representation of the seat. The Bengaluru contest was one of four Karnataka Legislative Council elections held on October 23, involving two graduates’ and two teachers’ constituencies. The other contests were still being counted or decided in reports published October 27. In the NorthEast Teachers constituency, BJP candidate Shashil G. Namoshi was...