BJP candidate Shashil G. Namoshi, contesting as the NDA candidate backed by the BJP-Janata Dal(S) alliance, has won the North-East Teachers Constituency in the election to the Legislative Council for the fifth time, defeating his Congress rival Sharanappa Mattur by 3,297 votes.

According to the final tabulation sheet provided by the Returning Officer, Mr. Namoshi secured 15,596 first preference votes against 12,299 polled by Mr. Mattur.

The prescribed winning quota was 14,191 votes, which Mr. Namoshi crossed in the first preference vote counting itself.

Counting of votes polled in the October 23 election was held at Bhaskar Hall in the Mathematics Department of Gulbarga University in Kalaburagi on Tuesday. Counting was carried out across 14 tables under the supervision of election officials.

Mr. Namoshi maintained a lead over Mr. Mattur from the first round of counting by securing 7,243 votes against 5,714 polled by the Congress candidate, establishing a lead of 1,529 votes.

In the second round, Mr. Namoshi secured another 7,288 votes, taking his cumulative tally to 14,531 and extending his lead to 3,232 votes.

The final tabulation sheet records 28,380 valid votes and 1,873 rejected ballot papers, taking the total number of ballot papers counted to 30,253.

Among the other candidates, Independent Rajkumar K. Kalaburagi secured 167 votes, followed by Independent Raju Devappa Sonna with 127 votes. Independent Kaviraj Naganna Motakpalli polled 49 votes, while Janata Dal(S) candidate Shankar Reddy Patil secured 44 votes.

Aam Aadmi Party candidate Saibanna Jamadar received 40 votes.

The remaining candidates were Sharanu P. Sugur (13 votes), Suresh Davidappa (13), Shivashankar Annappa Tarnalli (12), Mahaboob Mohammed Khaja Hussain Vanteli (10), T.K. Dasar (six) and Shashidhar Basawaraj (four votes).

The constituency covers seven districts of the Kalyana Karnataka region – Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari and Vijayanagara.

Speaking after his victory became certain, Mr. Namoshi thanked the teaching community for reposing faith in him for a fifth term.

He said that he will continue to work tirelessly to address grievances of teachers, protect their interests and respond to their concerns.

He also expressed the confidence that the results will serve as an indicator of the political situation ahead of the 2028 Assembly elections.

BJP workers and supporters celebrated the victory in Kalaburagi.

Chief Whip of the Opposition in the Legislative Council N. Ravikumar, MLC B.G. Patil, legislators, former legislators and other BJP leaders participated in the celebrations.

Mr. Ravikumar congratulated Mr. Namoshi describing the victory as recognition of his continued commitment to teachers welfare and their concerns in Kalyana Karnataka.

He also thanked party leaders, mandal and booth-level workers and voters for their support.

Mr. Mattur, who defeated Mr. Namoshi in an earlier election, has now lost to him in consecutive contests.