JD(S) fields Farook, seeks Congress support in Rajya Sabha

Bengaluru: The Rajya Sabha elections on March 23 are heading for a high-pitched battle with Janata Dal (S) announcing BM Farook as its official candidate even though it’s yet to reach a consensus with Congress on an alliance.
JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday softened his party’s stand to woo the Congress and announced the party would continue its alliance with the Congress in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. His son and JD(S) president H D Kumarswamy had earlier threatened withdraw support in the BBMP if the Congress didn’t support its Rajya Sabha candidate.

The JD(S) has 30 valid votes, as opposed to 44 required to elect its candidate, and it desperately needs Congress support. “Despite losing the 2016 elections, Farook stuck with the party and we’re bound to support him,’’ the former Prime Minister said.

After a core committee meeting, Gowda also sent a message to the Congress leadership that it had extended its indirect support to the party by not fielding candidates in Gundlupet and Nanjangud byelections and it expected the same for Farook.

“Even in the case of getting Kupendra Reddy elected, the Congress did not field a candidates in 2014. Now, when it’s the turn of B M Farook, why is the Congress, which claims to have been a guardian angel of minorities, trying to oppose us?” asked Gowda.

However, Siddaramaiah wants his close friend and realtor P R Channa Reddy to be the third candidate. According to JD(S) leaders, the party has got the clearance of the Congress high command but Siddaramaiah is opposing it.

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) said its list of three candidates will be out in the next two days. “There is no question of alliance with JD(S), as we’ll be fielding three candidates at the RS polls,” said KPCC working president Dinesh Gundu Rao.

The high command had proposed the names of Sam Pitroda and Janardhan Dwivedi, but Siddaramaiah opposed them on the grounds that it would be better to elect locals in a poll season.

Vijay Sankeshwar for BJP?

The situation in the BJP remains fluid with both Union minister Prakash Javadekar and outgoing independent MP Rajeev Chandrashekar in the race. There’s also speculation of media and transport baron Vijay Sankeshwar being in the fray. Sankeshwar’s name resonates with the intent of the BJP to have Lingayat representation from the party at the Centre ahead of the 2018 assembly polls and the controversy surrounding the community’s minority status. The BJP central leadership on Wednesday released the first list of its RS candidates sans Javadekar name from Madhya Pradesh but did not name the sole candidate from Karnataka.