The BJP-JD(S) alliance won all four seats in the Karnataka MLC polls held on October 23, leaving Congress with nothing. BJP leader Ashok Gowda said, “This is a success for the NDA and all the narratives spread by the Congress have been exposed.” The results showed strong opposition coordination among voters.

In a setback for the Congress, the ruling party failed to win any seats in the Karnataka MLC elections, with the NDA securing all four seats. The BJP won three seats, while its alliance partner, the JD(S), bagged one.

Held on October 23, the elections were seen as a test of coordination between the BJP and JD(S), as well as an indicator of the Congress’s support among teachers and graduates.

“This is a success for the NDA and all the narratives spread by the Congress have been exposed,” BJP leader Ashok Gowda told NDTV on Wednesday. “The Congress government has utterly failed in Karnataka. The people are clearly saying they don't want the Congress government.”

The 75-member Karnataka Legislative Council currently has 38 Congress members, 24 from the BJP and six from the JD(S), along with one Independent and Chairman Saleem Ahmed. Five seats earmarked for government nominations are vacant.

The October polls are separate from the seven-seat Legislative Council elections held on June 18, 2026, in which members were elected by MLAs. In those elections, the Congress won five seats and the BJP two, while the JD(S) candidate lost amid allegations of cross-voting.

The polls are also being viewed as an electoral test of the parties' organisational strength among graduates and teachers ahead of the 2028 Karnataka Assembly elections.

The election was also seen as a test of whether the two Opposition alliance partners could transfer their support to each other's candidates.

The Congress had sought to retain its lone seat and make gains in the other constituencies. Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president B K Hariprasad, ministers and senior party leaders campaigned across the constituencies.

Though the results were not expected to affect the stability of the state government, a strong showing by the Opposition alliance would provide it with political ammunition against the Congress government, which came to power in 2023.