A cross-voter and another absentee legislator from the BJP made the victory of Congress in the Rajya Sabha polls sweeter. The ruling Congress in Karnataka pulled off an impressive feat by holding its flock together and winning three out of the four seats amid speculations of potential cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls held in Bengaluru on Tuesday. While the BJP had enough votes (66) to win the fourth seat, the NDA fielding a fifth candidate, real estate baron and JD(S) leader D. Kupendra Reddy, despite a shortage of seats, forced the Congress to move its party MLAs into a resort on the eve of the polls in a bid to keep its flock together. However, a major embarrassment awaited the BJP on the polling day.
BJP MLA from Yeshwantpur S.T. Somashekhar cross-voted in favour of the Congress candidate, while another BJP MLA from Yellapur, Shivaram Hebbar, abstained from voting, which is suspected to be part of the Congress strategy to tackle the BJP.
Interestingly, both Somashekhar and Hebbar had quit the Congress to join the BJP during the 'Operation Kamala' in 2019 (that led to the collapse of the JD(S)-Congress coalition government) and had been cosying up to the Congress ever since the grand old party formed the government in the state last May. On Tuesday, Somashekhar said he had cast a “vote of conscience” and in favour of “whoever” had assured him funds for the development of his constituency. Hebbar skipped the voting despite chief whip Doddanagouda Patil issuing the whip to him on WhatsApp and pasting a copy outside his room in Legislators House in Bengaluru. According to sources, the two former ministers are said to be preparing to join the Congress after resigning from the assembly and the BJP to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Bangalore North (Somashekhar) and Uttara Kannada (Hebbar).
While each candidate would need only 45 first preferential votes to win, the Congress with 134 votes (following the demise of Surapura MLA Raja Venkatappa Naik on Sunday), managed to garner five more votes from two independents—Latha Mallikarjun (Harapanahalli) and K.H. Puttaswamy Gowda (Gauribidanur)—; KRPP MLA from Ganagavathi, Janardhan Reddy; Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha party MLA from Melukote, Dharshan Puttannaiah; and BJP MLA S. T. Somashekhar, and secured the victory of all three of its candidates – Ajay Maken (47 votes), Syed Nasir Hussain and G.C. Chandrashekhar.
The saffron party, with 66 members in the 224-member House, comfortably elected its official candidate Narayana Krishnasa Bhandage (47 votes). However, the BJP-JD(S) alliance (NDA) candidate D. Kupendra Reddy, who was relying on cross-voting by “disgruntled” Congress MLAs, bagged only 36 votes, short of nine votes to win.
Former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who conceded defeat, said the result was expected as they did not have enough seats. “We will not lose heart by this defeat. The real test for the alliance will be during the Lok Sabha polls. I had anticipated this result two days back. I also know who took two BJP MLAs to attend the Congress Legislature Party meeting on the eve of the RS polls. This was an opportunity for the JD(S) legislators to show that their unity is intact,” said Kumaraswamy.
KPCC chief and deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar expressed happiness over the victory. AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala said it was a “decisive victory of ideology, principle and character of the Congress MLAs, victory of democracy, INDIA and the self-respect of six crore Kannadigas”.
Surjewala demanded to know why the NDA had fielded a moneybag despite a shortfall of votes. “I would like to ask Modi, J.P. Nadda, Yediyurappa, Vijayendra and Kumaraswamy if they wanted to corrupt the democratic process by purchasing legislators. Did you field a tycoon who had loads of money to buy the loyalty and vote of MLAs elected by the people? I am happy our legislators demolished the conspiracy and rejected the politics of purchase and sale of MLAs by BJP and now JD(S). It is a victory of not only the Congress, Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah but of the common Kannadiga who decimated the unholy alliance of JD(S) and the BJP in the recent MLC elections too.
Leader of opposition in the assembly, R. Ashok, said, “BJP’s official candidate has won. The BJP Central leadership picked an ordinary party worker recognising his hard work and he is today the Rajya Sabha member. Our NDA candidate suffered defeat. But we consider it as a stepping stone to success and hope the alliance will win all 28 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.”
Slamming his party colleague S.T. Somashekhar for cross-voting, he said, “Somashekhar has betrayed the party. Our chief whip has visited his house and also sent many messages to convey the party whip. Yet he has betrayed not just the party but also the people of Yeshwantpur, who elected him on a BJP ticket.”
