K'taka Cong wins all 3, BJP left red-faced amid cross-voting

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The ruling Congress won three seats and the BJP one in the Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka on Tuesday, which were marred by cross-voting in a setback to the saffron party.

Congress candidates Ajay Maken, G C Chandrasekhar and Naseer Hussain and BJP man Narayansa K Bhandage were elected to the Upper House by the state’s MLAs, who were the electors.

Four seats were up for grabs but JD(S) man D Kupendra Reddy was the fifth candidate, who was the only competitor who lost.

However, arguably the highlight of the day was BJP MLA ST Somashekar cross-voting for Congressman Maken, while another one of their MLAs A Shivaram Hebbar abstained.

Both lawmakers were inching closer to the Congress after last year’s Assembly polls.

The BJP said it was going to lodge a complaint against the two MLAs for violating the whip issued to them to vote for the party candidate.

“We have got the information that Somashekar cross-voted. I consulted with advocate Vivek Reddy who is our state legal cell president and a High Court lawyer. We will ask the Speaker to initiate action (of disqualification) against him (Somashekar) and explore the possibilities to take steps in accordance with the law,” Leader of Opposition (LOP) in the Assembly R Ashoka said.

Somashekar had quit the Congress and joined the BJP in the infamous Operation Kamala of 2019, which toppled the HD Kumaraswamy-led State government.

He served as a minister in the subsequent BJP government. The BJP (66 MLAs) and the JD(S) (19 MLAs) combined had fielded Kupendra Reddy though they did not have the requisite votes to get him elected.

The NDA partners said they were expecting “conscience votes”, apparently from the rival Congress camp, in favour of Reddy.

The Congress has 134 MLAs. There are four MLAs who aren’t associated with the three major parties.

Heeded conscience: Somashekar

Somashekar said he heeded the “voice of his conscience and voted in favour of the Congress, “which built schools and carried out developmental works in his constituency”.

Hebbar too abstained from voting, adhering to his conscience, he said. Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar on Tuesday ridiculed the BJP and the JD(S) remarking: “Conscience vote seekers have become conscience vote givers.”

“I don't know about cross-voting. I haven't seen the votes of others and independents. Ask the BJP, who spoke about conscience votes,” he quipped.

“Somashekar has cast his vote as per his conscience. It's a vote against the unholy BJPJD(S) alliance. The general public, graduates, and teachers have rejected the alliance. Let's see what the legislators think,” he added.