‘Voted for Congress because I love it’: JD(S) MLA after cross-voting in RS polls

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, June 10, 2022: Two Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) MLAs - Srinivasa Gowda and SR Srinivas - cross-voted for the Congress party, during the Rajya Sabha election, held on Friday, June 10. Voting is underway in the Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from Karnataka, as suspense continues over the outcome of the fourth seat, for which all three political parties are contenders, despite none of them having adequate number of votes to win it.

 

When asked about his vote, Srinivasa Gowda, upon exiting after polling, said that he cast his vote for Congress. “I have voted for Congress because I love it!”, he said.

Meanwhile, former CM HD Kumaraswamy said that SR Srinivas also did not vote for JD(S). “I had said that Srinivasa Gowda will vote for Congress. SR Srinivas also didn’t vote for JD(S). Congress has shown its true face today. Congress is the ’B’ team of the BJP. They’re the main culprit for rise of BJP in the country (sic),” ANI reported Kumaraswamy as saying.

 

#WATCH | I have voted for Congress because I love it: K Srinivasa Gowda, Karnataka JD(S) leader on Rajya Sabha elections pic.twitter.com/oMSkdlYSuQ

— ANI (@ANI) June 10, 2022

On Thursday, Kumaraswamy had appealed to the Congress to also support JD(S) to defeat BJP. “JD(S) has fielded Kupendra Reddy as its first candidate in the Rajya Sabha election. He is an entrepreneur, social worker & a progressive thinker. He is an experienced Rajya Sabha member & All parties must extend support to him with open mind. To strengthen the secular forces Congress must fully support Kupendra Reddy. To defeat the BJP, Congress should support JD(S) which has more votes than it. There is no doubt that history & people will decide in future based on the outcome of this election result. I firmly believe that honourable @rssurjewala will understand this point. (sic),” he tweeted.

Kumaraswamy had also made an offer to trade second preference votes with the Congress and to "start afresh" by forgetting the past between the two political parties, but Congress made it clear to the regional party that it was now time for it to return the favour, pointing out that former PM HD Deve Gowda got elected to the Rajya Sabha last time with its support in June 2020.

Fearing cross-voting, all three political parties had already issued a whip, asking their respective MLAs to vote for their candidates. Of all the parties, the worry of ensuring that its numbers are intact and there is no cross-voting is greater for JD(S), and the party had last night shifted its MLAs to a hotel in the city.

JD(S) fears a repeat of the 2016 Rajya Sabha polls, when eight rebel MLAs voted against its official candidate and supported the Congress. Most of these rebels managed to get Congress tickets for 2018 Assembly polls. There are reports that some MLAs are even in touch with the BJP.

Six candidates are in the fray in the Rajya Sabha elections from the state, necessitating a contest for the fourth seat. Despite not having the adequate number of votes to win the fourth seat from the state Assembly, all the three political parties -- BJP, Congress and JD(S) -- have fielded candidates for the seat, forcing an election.

The six candidates in the fray for the Rajya Sabha polls from the state are -- Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor-politician Jaggesh and outgoing MLC Lehar Singh Siroya from the BJP, former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh and state general secretary Mansoor Ali Khan from the Congress, and former MP D Kupendra Reddy from the JD(S). Of these six candidates, Sitharaman and Ramesh are seeking re-election to the Upper House of Parliament for a second consecutive term from the state.

A candidate needs the support of 45 MLAs to win and based on their strength in the Legislative Assembly, the BJP can win two seats and the Congress one. After getting two Rajya Sabha candidates (Sitharaman and Jaggesh) elected on its own strength in the Assembly, the BJP will be left with an additional 32 MLA votes. The Congress will be left with 25 MLA votes after electing Jairam Ramesh, while the JD(S) has only 32 MLAs, which is not sufficient to win a seat.

The fight for the fourth seat will see a direct contest between Siroya (BJP), Khan (Congress) and Reddy (JDS). While Siroya and Reddy are short of votes from 13 MLAs each, Khan will need 20.

The election to four Rajya Sabha seats was necessitated as the term of office of members Nirmala Sitharaman and KC Ramamurthy of BJP and Jairam Ramesh -- is due to expire on June 30. The fourth member, Oscar Fernandes of the Congress, passed away last year.

Courtesy: The News Minute