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'Voted for Congress as...': JD(S) leader's video amid HD Kumaraswamy's attacks
Rajya Sabha polls: Voting is being held in four states - Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Haryana - on Friday.
Karnataka is witnessing a closely-watched election on Friday with voting going on for four Rajya Sabha seats. But the crucial polls seem to have raised tensions not just between the opposition and the ruling party but the Congress and the JDS, who were coalition partners in the government that earlier ruled the state.
Shortly after ex chief minister HD Kumaraswamy dismissed buzz about cross voting as “misinformation”, he claimed that the Congress had got eight JDS leaders to vote for the grand old party.
In the midst of his claims, a leader of his party on Friday openly said he had voted for the Congress. “I have voted for the Congress because I love it,” Srinivas Gowda of the JD(S) told reporters after casting his vote. The video was shared by news agency ANI.
Earlier, Kumaraswamy was quoted as saying by TV9. “There was misinformation spread that our legislators will cross vote. Overall, our party is intact is the message that our legislators have given.”
Later, he targeted the party. “The Congress can not allege that the JD(S) is the B team of the BJP. It was Congress who is helping BJP win," he said.
On Wednesday, Kumaraswamy had slammed the Congress and ex chief minister Siddarmaiah. “Siddaramaiah has said that the Congress decided to field its second candidate before us. But did they discuss this with us beforehand? They could have asked for support from our party president. Isn’t CM Ibrahim a close friend of his (Siddaramaiah)?” he said on discussions between the two parties on the Rajya Sabha polls.
Amid apparent differences between the two parties, the BJP is eyeing to benefit from the situation.
The party has fielded union minister Nirmala Sitharaman among other candidates from the state. Each candidate needs 45 votes to win the election.
In the 244-member state assembly, the BJP has 121 legislators while the Congress has 70 legislators and the JDS has 32 leaders. Rajasthan, Haryana and Maharashtra are the other states where voting is on for the Rajya Sabha polls on Friday.
The southern state is also set to witness assembly elections next year.
