The B S Yeddyurappa Government, on Tuesday got a comfortable majority in the Karnataka Assembly as it won five of the eight seat in the by elections held on December 27. The remaining three seats were won by the JD(S), while Congress did not get a single seat.

With this, the saffron party’s strength in the 224 member assembly has gone up to 115. The Government also has the backing of five independent MLAs which takes its strength in the House to 120. The BJP was short by two seats of the halfway mark in the elections held in May this year and sought the support of the independents to form the government.

The by-elections were held due to the resignation of the legislators after they defected to the BJP.  Four of the defectors were JD(S) MLAs and three were from the Congress. Maddur, fell vacant because of the demise of JD(S) MLA, M S Siddaraju.

The BJP wrested Arebhavi, Hukkeri and Devdurga from the JD(S), and Karwar and Doddaballapur from the Congress. The JD(S) took Turuvekere from the Congress and retained Madhugiri and Maddur. The Congress thus lost three seats and the JD(S) two.

The five BJP members who won include four Ministers, Balachandra Jarakiholi (Arebhavi), Mr Umesh Vishwanath Katti (Hukkeri), Mr K Shivanagouda Naik (Devdurga) and Mr Anant Asnotikar (Karwar). Mr J Narasimhaswamy retained Doddaballapur.

Mr Jarakiholi, Mr Katti and Mr Naik had earlier won their seats in the Assembly elections held in May this year on the JD(S) ticket, whereas Mr Asnotikar and Mr Narasimhaswamy defected from the Congress. BJP had never before won Devdurga in Raichur district, Arebhavi and Hukkeri in Belgaum district, in the 63 year old electoral history of the State.

The JD(S) victorious candidates include the former Chief Mminister H D Kumaraswamy’s wife Anita from Madhugiri, and former Minister Siddaraju’s widow Kalpana, who retained the Maddur seat held by her late husband.

The by elections, which have been held less than two months before the announcement of the general election, has come as a big morale booster to the BJP. The verdict shall certainly embolden the party for the coming Lok Sabha elections.

In the 2004 general election, the BJP had bagged 18 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats from Karnataka, where as the Congress won eight. The JD(S) got only two seats. The BJP now aims high.