Rajya Sabha elections: Congress wins three seats, BJP one in Karnataka
BJP MLAs ST Somashekar and Shivram Hebbar violated the party whip with the former voting for Maken and the latter abstaining
The ruling Congress won three seats and the Opposition BJP one in the Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka on Tuesday (February 27). Though the results were on the expected lines, the BJP-JD(S) alliance was left red-faced with its second candidate Kupendra Reddy biting the dust.
Congress candidates Ajay Maken and Naseer Hussain secured 47 votes each, while GC Chandrasekhar got 45 votes. Independent MLAs Latha Mallikarjuna and Puttaswamy Gowda, and Kalyana Rajya Pragati Party's Janardhana Reddy and Sarvodaya Karnataka Party's Darshan Puttannaiah voted for Congress candidates. In addition, BJP MLA ST Somasekhar also voted for Maken through cross-voting.
BJP's Narayana Sa Bhandage secured 47 votes. Out of a total of 66 BJP MLAs, 47 voted for him, while 17 voted for Reddy. Among the remaining two, Somashekhar voted for Congress, while another MLA Shivram Hebbar abstained from voting.
Reddy, who was fielded by JD(S) with an eye on cross-voting, lost as expected. He managed to get only 36 votes, including 17 from BJP and 19 from JD(S).
All JD(S) MLAs voted for the party candidate despite apprehensions that Gurumithkal MLA Sharan Gowda Kundakura may cross-vote after he expressed his displeasure against the party leaders in recent days.
As expected, BJP MLAs Somashekar and Hebbar violated the party whip. The party’s efforts to contact Hebbar proved futile as he switched off his mobile phone a few hours before polling and "went missing". A copy of the whip was pasted at Hebbar’s MLA Bhavan office and his residence.
Reacting to the poll outcome, AICC state in-charge Randeep Surjewala said, “This is the second defeat for the unholy alliance of BJP and JD(S) in Karnataka. Earlier, the alliance faced defeat in the Legislative Council bypoll for the teachers’ constituency.”
A total of five candidates, including three from the Congress, one from the BJP and one from the JD(S), were in the fray for the four Rajya Sabha seats. The entry of Reddy into the fray as BJP-JD(S) candidate had spiced up the electoral battle.
