This was first electoral contest since DK Shivakumar assumed CM office.

NEW DELHI: The ruling Congress won five of the seven seats in the Karnataka legislative council elections on Thursday in the first electoral contest since the new government led by chief minister DK Shivakumar assumed office. The BJP secured the remaining two, news agency PTI reported.Congress candidates Thippannappa Kamknoor, PV Mohan, BK Hariprasad, Shivanna BS and Vinay Karthik Prakash were declared elected. The BJP’s Lingaraj Patil and Raghu R also emerged victorious, while the JD(S)’s lone candidate, Govindaraju, lost the contest.According to PTI sources, there were instances of cross-voting by legislators from both the BJP and the JD(S), with Congress candidates reportedly securing more votes than anticipated.Voting for the seven legislative council seats was held at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, where eight candidates were in the fray. The seats fell vacant as the terms of seven sitting MLCs are set to end on June 30.The retiring members include Congress leaders Naseer Ahmed, Tippannappa and BK Hariprasad; BJP leaders N Nagaraju (MTB), Prathap Simha Nayak K and Sunil Vallyapur; and JD(S) leader Govindaraju.