The BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) coalition in Karnataka suffered yet another jolt in the Rajya Sabha election as saffron party MLA and former minister S T Somashekar voted in favour of the Congress candidates on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA Shivaram Hebbar, also a former minister, abstained from voting, embarrassing the party leadership in the state.
Amid cross-voting and the Opposition alliance’s failure to break away some Congress MLAs, JD(S) candidate and real estate businessman D Kupendra Reddy lost out on an Upper House berth, falling short by nine votes.
Those who got elected to the Rajya Sabha are Ajay Maken, Syed Nasir Hussain and G C Chandrashekar from the Congress and BJP leader Narayansa Bhandage. While Maken and Hussain got 47 votes each, Chandrashekar got 45 votes and Bhandage 47 votes. Reddy received 36 votes.
Each candidate required at least 45 first-preference votes to win. To win, the JD(S) would have required the BJP’s spare votes, its own 19 MLAs, and five Congress votes. Polling ended at 4 pm and of the 223 possible votes — Shorapur MLA Raja Venkatappa Naik died of a heart attack on Sunday — 222 were cast.
Apart from Congress legislators, three Independent MLAs are also learnt to have voted for the party. Janardhan Reddy of the Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha said he had also cast a “vote of conscience”.
This is the second consecutive setback for the BJP-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka, having lost the recently held MLC election for the Bangalore Teachers’ Constituency, where Congress candidate P Puttanna won by 1,507 votes.
Speaking to the media after the victory, All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Karnataka R S Surjewala termed the results as a “victory of principles and ideals”.
He questioned why JD(S) leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy fielded a fifth candidate in the form of Reddy when it was clear that they did not have enough votes. “The candidature itself was a brazen insult to the mandate,” Surjewala said, adding that he was happy that the party legislators stood against the conspiracy.
This is a rejection of the “opportunistic, unholy and undemocratic alliance founded on the muscle power of ED, IT and CBI, and money power of those fielded in the polls”, Surjewala said.
While the Congress had a support of 134 votes from its own legislators, it got support from two Independent legislators — Latha Mallikarjun and K H Puttaswamy Gowda — and Darshan Puttannaiah of the Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha. Somashekar’s vote in favour of the Congress took the party’s tally to 139.
Earlier in the day, Somashekar told reporters that he would cast a “vote of conscience” for a candidate who would provide funds to his Yeshwanthapura constituency. “I will cast the first-preference vote for the candidate who promises funds for the constituency,” he said. Somashekar also stayed away from mingling with BJP legislators present at the Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday.
After Somashekar’s cross-voting, BJP leaders led by Leader of Opposition R Ashok held a meeting and are said to have decided to take action against him.
There was also apprehension that former minister Shivaram Hebbar would vote for the Congress. Directing Hebbar to vote for the coalition candidates, the BJP pasted a copy of the party whip outside his room at the Vidhana Soudha but his absence irked the BJP camp further.
In the Rajya Sabha polls, MLAs retain their freedom to vote for a candidate of their choice. But, in the end, Hebbar abstained.
After reports of Somashekar’s cross vote surfaced, the BJP and JD(S) workers staged a protest against him.
Ashok lashed out at Somashekar and Hebbar and said, “Somashekar has betrayed the party…it is a political suicide.” He added, “Though Hebbar was in touch with me for the past few days, he has now gone missing.”
“The BJP Legislature Party will also write to the Legislative Assembly Speaker to disqualify them,” Ashok said.
Both Somashekar and Hebbar were earlier with the Congress and joined the BJP in 2019 as the Congress-JD(S) government was toppled after some of their legislators rebelled. The talk of Somashekar and Hebbar returning to the Congress fold has been around since last year.
Speaking to reporters, Deputy CM and state Congress president D K Shivakumar said he was unaware of any cross votes as he had seen the votes of only Congress MLAs.
Before the election, the Congress filed a complaint against JD(S) leaders for allegedly threatening party legislators. JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy dismissed the allegation, saying, “It is Congress culture.”
“All three of our candidates will win. There is no doubt about that,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said.
Aisha Patel is a dedicated Indian correspondent with a deep understanding of the nation’s diverse affairs. With a background in Indian culture, politics, and current events, she provides in-depth analysis and timely reporting on domestic issues within India.
