Siddaramaiah hopeful of winning 12 out of 15 seats in the upcoming Karnataka by-polls

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress Party member Siddaramaiah on Monday, November 25, stayed hopeful that the Congress party will win a minimum of 12 out of 15 seats in the upcoming Karnataka by-polls. The Congress leader further stated that it will be no surprises if the party wins all the 15 seats in the State. According to Siddaramaiah, if the party wins 12 out of 15 seats, then, the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party Government will have to resign and the State may have to opt for mid-term elections.

READ | BJP gives tickets to 13 Congress-JD(S) rebel MLAs for assembly bypolls in Karnataka

16 former Congress-JD(S) MLAs join BJP

On November 14, 16 out of the 17 rebel MLAs of the Congress-JD(S) had joined the Bhartiya Janata Party in a ceremony which was also attended by Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, BJP State President Nalin Kateel and BJP national General Secretary P Muralidhar Rao. Welcoming all of them, Rao had stated that their joining the party would help deliver a stable and development-oriented government in Karnataka. He revealed that they decided to join BJP after the SC's verdict on Wednesday, November 13.

READ | Debate only on the margin, BJP will win all 15 seats: Karnataka CM on bypolls

Bypolls in Karnataka

A total of 15 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka are going to bypolls on December 5 and the counting of the votes has been scheduled for December 9. The date for filing nominations for the bypolls to the 15 Assembly seats in Karnataka was from November 11-18. The elections for the 15 Assembly seats were earlier slated for October 21 but later postponed to December 5 by the Election Commission (EC) as the case pertaining to the disqualification of 17 MLAs was pending in the Supreme Court. 

READ | Siddaramaiah says he didn't object to Cong government with JDS

READ | 'Laxman Savadi will remain Deputy Chief Minister for the full term': Karnataka CM Yediyurappa