Bengaluru, June 18 -- As voting for seven seats of the Karnataka Legislative Council is underway on Thursday, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar cast his vote at the Vidhana Soudha, while senior Congress leaders expressed confidence that the party would win all five seats it is contesting.

Congress MLA and former minister Santosh Lad expressed confidence in the party's prospects and said, "We are very confident, and according to me, all five candidates will win comfortably."

Senior Congress leader Satish Jarkiholi also asserted that the party had the required numbers to secure victory. "All our five contestants will win, there is no doubt. We have the numbers necessary to win," he said.

Admitting the presence of factions within the...