RS polls: BJP-JDS candidate has uphill task to garner 45 votes

BENGALURU: The prestige of the BJP-JDS alliance is at stake in the February 27 Rajya Sabha polls, with the alliance partners putting up former RS member D Kupendra Reddy of the JDS as the fifth candidate, though there are only four seats at stake.

The BJP, with 66 MLAs, can win one seat through its official candidate Narayansa Bhandage as it requires 45 votes, but the saffron party is likely to allot two more votes of its MLAs to Bhandage to be on the safer side. Kupendra Reddy would be allotted the remaining 19 votes, but there is some uncertainty, with a few ‘dissidents’ within the BJP, including S T Somashekar and Shivaram Hebbar holding parleys with Chief Minister Siddararmaiah and DCM D K Shivakumar. It is to be seen whether they toe the BJP high command line and back Kupendra Reddy.

Among the 19 JDS MLAs, three legislators, including Gurmitkal MLA Sharanagouda Kandakur, M R Manjunath from Hanur and Karemma G Nayaka from Devadurga, were also in close touch with Congress leaders, according to sources. So Kupendra Reddy has a daunting task of convincing BJP and JDS MLAs, and even Congress MLAs, if any, to reach the tally of 45 votes to win the polls. Chances of some MLAs abstaining from voting cannot be ruled out either.

BJP state president BY Vijayendra and his counterpart in JDS H D Kumaraswamy were trying to get ‘respectable votes’ for Reddy, but there is little enthusiasm in the party, a BJP MLA told TNIE and predicted that a win for Reddy is highly difficult.

The alliance partners already faced a debacle in the Bengaluru teachers’ seat election on February 16 due to lack of coordination, and candidate A P Ranganath of the JDS lost to Puttanna of the Congress.

The Congress will move its 135 MLAs to Hilton resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru on Monday evening on the pretext of a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting, which will be attended by the party high command. It has also requested independent MLAs Darshan Puttannaiah, Latha Mallikarjun and Puttaswamy Gowda to be present.

Meanwhile, DCM D K Shivakumar on Friday said he had held talks with Gangavathi MLA Gali Janardhana Reddy to back the Congress candidates in the RS polls. The party leadership is confident of their candidates Ajay Maken, G C Chandrashekar and Syed Naseer Hussain winning three seats as they have adequate votes.