Prateek Tanmay
3 min readBengaluruJun 21, 2026 05:20 PM IST
Having suffered a loss of face due to cross-voting during the MLC polls on Thursday, the Karnataka BJP has decided to convene a legislature party meeting at the Sri Manjunatheshwara Temple located at Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada district.
According to state BJP president B Y Vijayendra, the decision to hold the meeting at the temple was made to bring out the truth and expose those legislators who had betrayed the party during the election of seven Legislative Council members.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, he said the meeting could convene within a week.
On the legislators who cross-voted, Vijayendra said, “Irrespective of who they are, the MLAs have betrayed their mother. We are believers in God. Everyone (of the MLAs) should come to Dharmasthala. A legislative party meeting will be held there. The truth should come out at the temple, and a decision will be taken,” he said.
According to sources, the MLAs will likely be asked to take an oath in front of the temple deity. Since it was a secret ballot, the BJP is clueless about the identity of the three legislators who voted for Congress candidates. Over the last two days, the names of several legislators surfaced as those who cross-voted, prompting Belur MLA H K Suresh to write to BJP general secretary (organisation) B L Santosh that his name was being unnecessarily dragged into the issue.
Internal sabotage to corner Vijayendra?
Following the cross-voting, Vijayendra has come under criticism, especially from a section of party workers. Sources have also not ruled out the possibility of internal sabotage aimed at putting him on the back foot, as he has pushed for his case for a second term as the party’s state chief. There were rumours that Union Minister Pralhad Joshi would be dropped from the Union Cabinet and appointed as president of the state BJP unit.
During the Council elections, all five Congress candidates won by securing more than the required votes. Vinay Karthik, the fifth candidate fielded by the party, secured more votes than other Congress candidates. This was attributed to cross-voting by JD(S) and BJP legislators.
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Although each BJP candidate was expected to receive 30 votes as per the party’s directions, one of its candidates, Raghu Kautilya, got 29 votes as one vote was disqualified due to an error. Its second candidate, Lingaraj Patil, fell short by one vote of the minimum 28 votes required, but he was declared the winner in the elimination round. Though the JD(S) has 18 MLAs, its MLC candidate received only 14 votes.
