BENGALURU, 15 FEB

Rajya Sabha election scene in the State has hotted up with BJP-JD(S) combine fielding its second candidate, even though the alliance has the strength to win only one out of the four seats. Biennial election to fill four vacancies from Karnataka in Rajya Sabha, by the elected Members of Legislative Assembly, is scheduled for 27 February.

On the final day of nomination submissions, candidates from Congress and BJP-JD(S) alliance filed their nominations at Vidhana Soudha on Thursday. BJP-JD(S)  candidate Narayana Bandage was nominated for the polls earlier, but on the last day of filing nominations, the alliance fielded former Rajya Sabha member Kupendra Reddy, springing a surprise.

The nomination papers were submitted to the Secretary of the Legislative Assembly, with BJP State President BY Vijayendra, Opposition leader R Ashoka, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and BJP State General Secretary Sunil Kumar present along with the candidates. Vijayendra accused the Congress of conspiring against the Centre, asserting confidence in NDA's return to power in the upcoming elections.

On the Congress side, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivkumar, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Women and Child Development Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar and Shanti Nagar MLA Mohammed Harris were present along with the candidates. The party has fielded Ajay Maken, Syed Naseer Hussain and GC Chandrasekhar as party candidates from the State.

Shivakumar said the Congress expects to garner "conscience votes" from members of JD(S) and BJP for its candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections. “BJP and JD(S) always indulge in horse trading and they are known for that. JD(S) thinks that BJP will support them, but wait and watch till 27 February and you will know how many votes they get from BJP,” he said.

In the current Rajya Sabha quota from the State, three seats are held by the Congress and one by the BJP.  Congress has 135 MLAs and has the strength to win three with 45 votes each. BJP-JD(S) alliance has 84 votes and can win the second seat if six more MLAs support them.