Bengaluru: One occasion of a Bharatiya Janata Social gathering (BJP) MLA cross-voting and one other having abstained turned the spotlight of the Rajya Sabha elections for Karnataka Tuesday.
Although the Congress was comfortably positioned to win all three seats it contested on, the open defiance by the MLAs of the BJP’s directions now poses a problem for the occasion and its new alliance accomplice Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), forward of the Lok Sabha elections.
There have been 5 candidates for the 4 Rajya Sabha seats from the state. Whereas Ajay Maken, Syed Naseer Hussain and G.C. Chandrashekhar of the Congress, and Narayana Okay. Bhandage of the BJP secured comfy victories of their respective seats, filling up all 4 vacancies within the RS from Karnataka, JD(S) candidate Kupendra Reddy managed to get solely 36 votes, falling brief by 9 votes.
The RS polls celebration by the Congress was given a brand new spin by the BJP who stated that supporters of Hussain chanted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. A video of the incident has gone viral and supporters may be seen chanting Hussain’s identify and what feels like ‘Naseer Sahab Zindabad’.
The BJP has filed an official criticism in opposition to the incident and Hussain informed reporters that if such a chant was raised, then an investigation ought to be carried out.
The concentrate on the alleged anti-national chants, nonetheless, doesn’t take away the problem the BJP and JD(S) face within the run as much as the Lok Sabha elections.
S.T. Somashekar, the BJP legislator from Yeshvantpura, solid his vote in favour of the Congress and Arabail Shivaram Hebbar, the BJP MLA from Yellapur, abstained from polling, in accordance with folks conscious of the developments.
“Somashekar voted for the Congress,” Doddanagouda Patil, the BJP’ chief whip within the meeting, informed reporters in Bengaluru, including that the occasion had failed to ascertain contact with Hebbar.
Their open defiance isn’t solely a sign of the simmering dissent throughout the BJP ranks within the state, however has additionally fuelled speculations of one other spherical of exodus forward of the Lok Sabha polls, elevating doubts about whether or not it is going to be in a position to repeat its 2019 efficiency of profitable 25 out of the 28 parliamentary seats within the state.
“Whoever promises to give my constituency more money from their (Rajya Sabha) grants, I will give my first preference votes for them” Somashekar informed reporters in Bengaluru Tuesday afternoon, including that he would vote together with his conscience.
A complete of 222 out of the 224 MLAs within the decrease home solid their votes Tuesday, as Hebbar abstained from voting and one Congress MLA had died earlier this week.
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Switching sides
Somashekar and Hebbar had been among the many 17 members who defected from the Congress-JD(S) coalition authorities in 2019 after the alliance suffered a crushing defeat within the Lok Sabha polls that yr. A majority of those that defected in 2019 are thought of near Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, referring to him as “our leader”, even when within the BJP.
Somashekar and Hebbar are distinguished names in Karnataka’s political panorama however not for his or her affect. Somashekar served because the cooperation minister and Hebbar headed the labour ministry once they defected from the Congress in 2019 and had been re-elected on a BJP ticket.
Within the Could 2023 meeting elections, Somashekar had secured over 1.5 lakh votes, profitable by a margin of over 15,000 votes, whereas Hebbar received over 74,000 votes, profitable by a margin of round 4,000 votes.
Somashekar is a Vokkaliga and Hebbar a Brahmin, and although the 2 leaders have little affect exterior their respective constituencies, the Congress is making an attempt to spark a reverse exodus throughout the BJP in addition to consolidate help for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Yeshvantpura falls inside Bengaluru North Lok Sabha constituency and Yellapur comes below Uttara Kannada MP seat. In each these seats, the BJP has had a stranglehold for at the very least the previous three elections and the Congress is hopeful of gaining extra floor with the likes of Hebbar and Somashekar.
‘Betrayed the mother’
In Tuesday’s Rajya Sabha polls, the Congress secured 139 votes in complete, whereas the BJP-JD(S) alliance secured simply 83.
R. Ashok, the Chief of the Opposition informed reporters Tuesday that he was in fixed contact with Somashekar and Hebbar even on the day of the elections and {that a} ‘whip’ was conveyed to them by cellphone and bodily discover was despatched to their respective properties and places of work. He stated that the 2 leaders’ actions had been like “betraying the mother”.
To make certain, political events can not challenge whip for RS elections, nor wouldn’t it entice disqualification below the tenth schedule below the structure.
“I feel that people will not like this constant betrayal. S.T. Somashekar came to the BJP from Congress and has enjoyed being made a minister. (B.S.) Yediyurappa and we had made him the Mysuru district in-charge as well, which is very prestigious. After all this, to say that only if we are given money (by the Rajya Sabha candidate) that we’ll vote for them, or otherwise go against them…. How much money we have given him when we were in power. I feel he has committed political suicide,” he informed reporters.
There have been protests by BJP and JD(S) employees exterior Somashekar’s residence in Bengaluru after it was revealed that he voted for the Congress.
A shaky begin
The Congress has 134 legislators presently (one MLA died two days in the past), the BJP has 66 and the JD(S) 19. There are 4 independents within the 224 seats within the decrease home.
Every Rajya Sabha candidate wanted 45 votes to safe a win. The BJP and JD(S) fielded Kupendra Reddy because the fifth candidate. The BJP had 21 further votes and matched with the 19 JD(S) MLAs, the competition was anticipated to be a detailed one for Reddy who wanted round six extra votes to cross the road.
The alliance had additionally hoped that it might get some Congress legislators to cross-vote however on Tuesday, issues didn’t go as deliberate.
After having misplaced out on the legislative council elections barely per week in the past, the Rajya Sabha elections had been getting used to see if the mixed may of the nationwide occasion and its regional accomplice can handle to nook the Congress or lure its legislators.
However the BJP noticed two of its personal change sides.
Deputy Chief Minister D.Okay. Shivakumar stated he was not conscious if Somashekar voted for the Congress and remained tight-lipped about Hebbar. He, nonetheless, took a dig on the BJP-JD(S) alliance, calling it shaky and ‘unholy’.
“BJP could have transferred votes in excess of 45 to the JD(S) candidate, but it has shortchanged the JD(S) by retaining 48 votes for its candidate,” Shivakumar informed reporters Tuesday in Bengaluru.
Despite the defeat, a dejected wanting H.D. Kumaraswamy tried to attain one again in opposition to his two principal rivals — the Congress and CM Siddaramaiah.
The JD(S) chief stated that his occasion’s MLAs had caught collectively. “Ever since the Congress party formed the government…they (Congress) acted as though 11-12 legislators from the JD(S) had already switched over. Our MLAs have given them an answer today,” Kumaraswamy informed reporters.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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