Bangalore, Dec 1 (IANS) The Congress and Janata Dal-Secular will jointly fight the Dec 18 biennial poll to the Karnataka legislative council in a bid to prevent the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJPP) from gaining control of the upper house of the legislature.
The BJP is contesting all the 25 seats while the Congress and JD-S have formed an alliance for 23 seats. They will have ‘friendly fights’ in the remaining two. Nominations closed Tuesday.

The 25 members are to be elected by members of gram, taluk and Zilla panchayats, town municipal councils, city corporations across the state and assembly and parliament members. The vote count is due Dec 21.

The council has 75 members, 25 each elected by assembly members and local authorities, seven each by graduates and teachers while eleven are nominated.

Under the statutory provisions, a third of the council members are retired every two years and elections to the vacant seats are biennially held.

Of the 25 seats going to polls, 19 were with the Congress, four with the BJP, one with the JD-S and one is vacant.

The Congress has to win all the seats it is contesting and also hope for good show by the JD-S to ensure that the BJP does not wrest control of the council.

Karnataka JD-S president and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said his party and the Congress could not agree to put up common candidates in Bangalore Rural and Chitradurga districts.

“There would be friendly fights for these two seats,” he told reporters Tuesday.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa told reporters that he had taken the Congress-JD-S alliance as a challenge.

“I am confident of my party putting up a good show and winning majority of the 25 seats,” he said.