The  ruling BJP party had won three seats of legislative assembly on Tuesday and the counting went well into Wednesday for the result for the fourth seat the South East Graduates’ constituency. BJP’s official nominee Chidananda Gowda who polled 30,976 votes, won by a margin of about 6,100 votes at the fourth seat. 

Chidananda Gowda and Srinivas, husband of Hiriyur BJP MLA Poornima, were neck and neck leading the counting session to complex situation. While Srinivas was in the lead in the early rounds, Chidananda recovered and raced ahead. The first preference, second preference and third preference votes were counted and about 8,000 votes designated invalid, Chidananda Gowda was declared winner.Chidananda Gowda’s supporters who supported him all through overnight were seen celebrating leads in each round and reserved their biggest celebration till after he was declared winner. 

The constituency is one of the biggest with 5 MP constituencies and 32 MLA covering Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Davangere and Harihar. The total votes cast were nearly one lakh, the highest for the four Council constituencies. BJP now has 32 seats in the 75-member Legislative Council plus the support of one independent,  taking the number to 33. ``We will stake claim to the chairmanship of the Upper House when the Council convenes next, possibly in January-February,’’ said MLC Ravi Kumar.

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