Siddaramaiah Sticks to AHINDA formula to pick Rajya Sabha candidates
, ET Bureau|
Mar 07, 2018, 07.48 AM IST
BENGALURU: Karnataka’s Congress chief minister Siddaramaiah has stuck to his tried-and-trusted formula of AHINDA (minorities, backward castes and Dalits) in the selection of party candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls on March 23.
Siddaramaiah, who held discussions with party president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday, along with a galaxy of state unit leaders led by its president G Parameshwara, has reportedly said that a Muslim, a Schedule Caste (left sect) person and a Reddy (backward caste) would be the correct combination for the three seats that they can win out of the four falling vacant from the state.
“The CM has also discussed the list of candidates from each category with Rahulji,” a Congress party worker told ET.
It is said that former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, who belongs to the SC category (left sect), is a strong aspirant for that seat, while former Union minister of state for home Shivraj Patil, who belongs to the powerful Lingayat community, is also trying his luck.
There are also some reports that Congress social media cell head Divya Spandana (Ramya) could be a surprise wild card.
The BJP held two of the seats that go to poll, with Basavaraj Patil Sedam and R Ramakrishna retiring. A third seat was held by independent Rajeev Chandrashekar, who was elected jointly by the BJP and the JD(S). The fourth seat was held by K Rahman Khan of the Congress.
This time, the ruling Congress will get three of the seats due to their numerical strength (130), while the number of votes needed for each Rajya Sabha seat in the 224-member Assembly has come down from 45 to 44 due to the deaths of three MLAs and the resignations of another four.
The BJP, with 46 MLAs, can elect one. The JD((S), which can count on 30 votes, is trying to arm-twist the Congress to support its candidate, industrialist BM Farooq, for the fourth seat. Party state president HD Kumaraswamy has threatened to withdraw support to the Congress in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Bengaluru’s civic body, which they jointly rule, if Farooq is not elected.
“The CM has called his bluff and ruled it out. He wants to put up a third candidate who has the resources to get the support of independents for the shortfall of two votes,” a Congress leader close to Siddaramaiah said. “Even if he can’t, we have 88 second preference votes, while the BJP and JDS jointly have 74, so there should be no problem for our candidate.”
The aspirants for the Muslim seat are urban development minister R Roshan Baig, former parliamentarian IG Sanadi, former ministers AM Hindasgeri and Nazir Ahmed and former MLC Saleem Ahmed, besides Rahman Khan himself. The Congress is said to be considering former legislator L Hanumantaiah or former parliamentarian KB Krishnamurthy for the Dalit seat, while real-estate developer Channa Reddy, said to be a close friend of Siddaramaiah, is likely to get the third seat, said people in the know.
Some Lingayat leaders like Kailashnath Patil and Rani Satish are also said to be lobbying.
Siddaramaiah, who held discussions with party president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday, along with a galaxy of state unit leaders led by its president G Parameshwara, has reportedly said that a Muslim, a Schedule Caste (left sect) person and a Reddy (backward caste) would be the correct combination for the three seats that they can win out of the four falling vacant from the state.
“The CM has also discussed the list of candidates from each category with Rahulji,” a Congress party worker told ET.
It is said that former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, who belongs to the SC category (left sect), is a strong aspirant for that seat, while former Union minister of state for home Shivraj Patil, who belongs to the powerful Lingayat community, is also trying his luck.
There are also some reports that Congress social media cell head Divya Spandana (Ramya) could be a surprise wild card.
The BJP held two of the seats that go to poll, with Basavaraj Patil Sedam and R Ramakrishna retiring. A third seat was held by independent Rajeev Chandrashekar, who was elected jointly by the BJP and the JD(S). The fourth seat was held by K Rahman Khan of the Congress.
This time, the ruling Congress will get three of the seats due to their numerical strength (130), while the number of votes needed for each Rajya Sabha seat in the 224-member Assembly has come down from 45 to 44 due to the deaths of three MLAs and the resignations of another four.
The BJP, with 46 MLAs, can elect one. The JD((S), which can count on 30 votes, is trying to arm-twist the Congress to support its candidate, industrialist BM Farooq, for the fourth seat. Party state president HD Kumaraswamy has threatened to withdraw support to the Congress in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Bengaluru’s civic body, which they jointly rule, if Farooq is not elected.
“The CM has called his bluff and ruled it out. He wants to put up a third candidate who has the resources to get the support of independents for the shortfall of two votes,” a Congress leader close to Siddaramaiah said. “Even if he can’t, we have 88 second preference votes, while the BJP and JDS jointly have 74, so there should be no problem for our candidate.”
The aspirants for the Muslim seat are urban development minister R Roshan Baig, former parliamentarian IG Sanadi, former ministers AM Hindasgeri and Nazir Ahmed and former MLC Saleem Ahmed, besides Rahman Khan himself. The Congress is said to be considering former legislator L Hanumantaiah or former parliamentarian KB Krishnamurthy for the Dalit seat, while real-estate developer Channa Reddy, said to be a close friend of Siddaramaiah, is likely to get the third seat, said people in the know.
Some Lingayat leaders like Kailashnath Patil and Rani Satish are also said to be lobbying.
