JD(S) reaches out to Congress, BJP eyes 3 seats in Rajya Sabha polls

Leaders of the Janata Dal (Secular) on Wednesday met leader of opposition and Congress leader Siddaramaiah to seek the support for its lone candidate in the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls, adding to the political cat-and-mouse game in Karnataka

Leaders of the Janata Dal (Secular) on Wednesday met leader of opposition and Congress leader Siddaramaiah to seek the support for its lone candidate in the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls, adding to the political cat-and-mouse game in Karnataka.

The BJP is trying to assuage BS Yediyurappa who is reportedly unhappy with his son, BY Vijayendra, being denied an MLC ticket by fielding his close confidante Lahar Singh. (ANI)

TA Sharavana and BM Farooq of the JD(S) met Siddaramaiah, which turned out to be a “courtesy call” rather than one which would lead to the regional party securing the support of the Sonia Gandhi-led party.

Senior JD(S) leader and former minister HD Revanna was scheduled to meet Siddaramaiah on Wednesday but later backed out.

“We have asked for support and anything can happen,” Farooq said, adding to the speculation around the polls.

Out of the four vacancies, the BJP can easily manage two, the Congress can win one on its own and the JD(S) has to rely on the support of both national parties to get its candidate, Kupendra Reddy, over the line.

While the JD(S) was earlier confident of securing support to get its candidate over the line, the BJP and Congress have both fielded one additional candidate to corner the other.

The developments add to the complex three-way relations between the major outfits in Karnataka that has added to the turbulent and volatile political climate of the southern state.

People aware of the developments said the Congress was divided over the line taken by Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar who continue to take steps which are independent of each other in the battle for dominance within the party.

The BJP is trying to assuage BS Yediyurappa who is reportedly unhappy with his son, BY Vijayendra, being denied an MLC ticket by fielding his close confidante Lahar Singh.

To be sure, the BJP has fielded Kannada actor-turned politician Jaggesh, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and a surprise third candidate, Singh.

The Congress, which can only win one seat on its own strength, has fielded Jairam Ramesh and a second surprise candidate, Mansoor Ali Khan.

While Siddaramaiah held talks with the JD(S), Shivakumar appealed to the former prime minister HD Deve Gowda-led party to support the Congress as part of the “secular” ideology to keep the BJP out.

“I humbly appeal to the JD(S) to support our candidate as we have earlier supported Deve Gowda’s candidature,” Shivakumar said.

Each candidate requires 45 votes to win which would leave the BJP’s third candidate short of 13 votes to get over the line. But second preferential votes and the additional uncast votes would give the BJP a possible edge, according to the party.

“If all parties vote for their respective candidates, we will win the third seat. We have second preferential votes and 32 additional votes as well,” S Ravi Kumar, the BJP’s state general secretary and MLC, told HT.

The BJP has 120 members in the lower house of the legislature, the Congress has 69 while 32 are with the JD(S). The lone Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) vote and one of the two Independents is likely to go the BJP way. The other Independent, Sharath Bachegowda, is likely to vote for the Congress.

The JD(S) is the only major outfit in Karnataka to have an alliance with both national parties to form governments which has often turned out to be a more complex affair, forcing the party to try and win polls on its own strength which mostly comes from the Old Mysuru region or Vokkaliga heartland.

“Even after our two candidates win, there will be 32 additional votes which we will have. Congress will have around 19-20 votes on its own. JD(S) will get 32 votes. In politics, it may not happen in the planned fashion sometimes as we have seen actual party-backed candidates lose and independents win,” said CT Ravi, the BJP national general secretary.

“We are confident that all our three candidates will win. I cannot tell you these political strategies. After the results, we will get to know,” he said.

Ravi was referring to cross voting in Rajya Sabha polls in which leaders, possible defectors and others have cast their ballot to opposing candidates. “When JD(S) reaches out to us, we will see. They have not done it so far. But for them we are communal right. We are not secular in their view,” Ravi mocked the JD(S).