Bengaluru

An estimated 95.50 per cent voting was recorded till 1 pm on Thursday with 212 out of the total 222 MLAs casting their ballots during elections for seven seats of the state Legislative Council, where eight candidates are in the fray.

Members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly are voting in the election at Vidhana Soudha.

According to the returning officer, voting began at 9 am and will go on till 4 pm, and counting will begin at 5 pm.

The candidates in the fray are Congress's Thippannappa Kamknoor, P V Mohan, B K Hariprasad (KPCC president), Shivanna B S, and Vinay Karthik Prakash; BJP's Lingaraj Patil and Raghu R; and JD(S) leader Govindaraju.

The polls were necessitated as the terms of seven MLCs' -- Congress leaders Naseer Ahmed, Tippannappa, and B K Hariprasad, BJP leaders N Nagaraju (MTB), Prathap Simha Nayak K, and Sunil Vallyapur; and Govindaraju of JD(S) are set to expire upon their retirement on June 30.

Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, former CM Siddaramaiah, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly R Ashoka are among the prominent leaders, who cast their votes on Thursday.

Each candidate requires a minimum of 28 votes to win. The Congress and BJP are expected to comfortably win four and two seats respectively, based on their strength in the Assembly, officials said.

However, a contest exists for the seventh seat, as both Congress and JD(S) fielded candidates despite lacking the strength to win it independently.

Both Congress and JD(S) had sequestered their legislators at separate resorts on the city outskirts, amid fear of possible cross-voting.

The ruling Congress under CM Shivakumar is determined to win five out of the seven seats with the help of independents and unattached MLAs'”who were expelled from the BJP.

While the JD(S), with the help of its alliance partner BJP, is hoping to win one seat, and has requested other MLAs, including those from Congress, to cast a "vote of conscience" in its favour.

Two of the three unattached members expelled from the BJP -- S T Somashekar and Shivaram Hebbar -- said that they have voted according to their conscience.

Speaking to reporters, they said neither the BJP nor the JD(S) contacted them seeking votes, while CM Shivakumar contacted them and sought support for the Congress candidate.

They also said that they have brought issues concerning their constituencies to the notice of the CM and he responded positively to their concerns.

Somashekar and Hebbar were on Wednesday seen at the resort where Congress legislators are camping. On Thursday too, they were seen with Congress legislators and even met Shivakumar.

Another member expelled from the BJP, Basangouda Patil Yatnal, however, said he voted as per the BJP's directions, as he had won the MLA polls on that party's symbol. He also met Leader of Opposition R Ashoka.

Meanwhile, senior JD(S) MLA G T Devegowda, who has distanced himself from the party for some time now, voted separately and did not come for voting with other party legislators, leading to speculation.

READ MORE: Home Chef Maliha Baig brings secret Hyderabadi recipies to the table

Devegowda told reporters he voted according to his "conscience."