BJP confident of Rajya Sabha polls victory: Kateel

Nalin Kumar Kateel, the state BJP president, said that there would be no instances of cross-voting, nor was the party dependent on any such move by members of the opposition for the Rajya Sabha polls.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said that it was confident of winning the third seat in the Rajya Sabha polls on June 10, adding that the outfit had enough votes to win on its own.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Karnataka unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel (far left) on Monday said that it was confident of winning the third seat in the Rajya Sabha polls on June 10, adding that the outfit had enough votes to win on its own. (ANI)

Nalin Kumar Kateel, the state BJP president, said that there would be no instances of cross-voting, nor was the party dependent on any such move by members of the opposition.

“The BJP will win all three seats (out of four) in the Rajya Sabha elections and all four elections for the upper house of the state legislature,” Kateel said in Hubballi on Monday.

“We are dependent only on votes from our party. Since all three parties have fielded their candidates, it becomes easier for us to elect our candidate,” he added.

The statements come even as Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) continue negotiating for the fourth and final Rajya Sabha seat to counter the BJP.

The JD(S) was earlier hopeful that the BJP or Congress would support its bid for the fourth seat as they wouldn’t have numbers on their own.

The BJP has 32 additional votes after it elects two of its candidates – Nirmala Sitharaman and Jaggesh – and retains the remaining for Lahar Singh Siroya. However, each candidate requires 45 votes to win, and the BJP will require its second preferential votes to get closer to the 45-mark.

The JD(S) has 32 votes on its own, but at least five of its legislators are likely to abstain from the elections as they have decided to part ways with the former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda-led party. The Congress has fielded Jairam Ramesh as its first choice candidate and will have 25 additional votes and is trying to get the JD(S) to back its second candidate, Mansour Ali Khan, on the premise that “all secular parties should unite and keep the BJP at bay”.

“I feel that even now that JD(S) also don’t want communal forces to win, they will support us,” Siddaramaiah, the leader of the opposition and Congress legislator said.

“We have 25 surplus votes, and over that, we have second preferential votes. There are some from the JD(S) and BJP who will vote for us with their conscience. We are confident of winning because of this. We have put a minority candidate, and we are confident that JD(S) will back us. We will get as much as we require,” he added.

The BJP had fielded a third candidate as it did not want local leaders to strike up an alliance on their own, which would be detrimental to the party’s interests in the Parliament. Congress fielded a candidate to corner the JD(S), according to multiple persons aware of the developments.

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy was deployed by the BJP to oversee the Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka and ensure the victory of its third candidate. Reddy could not be reached for comment after he left for Delhi on Monday evening.

The Congress hoped in the beginning that if the BJP did back the JD(S), then it would validate claims that the regional outfit was indeed the ‘B Team of the saffron fold, the above-cited people said.

HD Kumaraswamy, former chief minister and JD(S) leader on Monday said, “I have said that it is not easy to destroy the JD(S) easily. The strength of the JD(S) is its workers and is firmly standing on their struggles. In the last 15-20 years there have been many developments and several leaders have left the party but it has survived because of its workers. So, any leaders who leave the party and think they can use these (RS) elections to destroy our party, that would be impossible.”