Bengaluru, June 19 -- The Janata Dal (Secular) suffered a major setback in the Legislative Council elections as its lone candidate, Govindaraju, failed to secure victory despite intense efforts by the party leadership. Govindaraju managed to secure only 14 votes, triggering speculation of large-scale cross-voting within the party ranks.

JDS leaders had expected all 18 legislators of the party to vote in favour of their candidate. While they had anticipated the possibility of one or two cross-votes, the final tally has come as a major shock. The result has sparked internal discussions over the extent of defection and dissatisfaction within the party.

The defeat was compounded by last-minute political calculations involving alliance partn...