RS polls: Shamanur, others contacted by BJP, JD(S) says DKS

NT Correspondent

Chikkamagaluru: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday dropped another bombshell in relation to the previous week’s Rajya Sabha elections, claiming the state BJP and JD(S) leaders had tried to induce several Congress MLAs to cross-vote.

He alleged that one of the legislators that the saffron party reached out to was Congress MLA from Davangere South Shamanur Shivashankarappa.

The Deputy CM added that he would release a list of Congress MLAs who had been wooed by the BJP and JD(S) vis a vis the Rajya Sabha elections. He made the comments at a programme in Chikkamagaluru on Sunday.

“The BJP-JD(S) alliance faced a humiliating defeat in the Rajya Sabha election in spite of their attempts to buy our MLAs. BJP State President Vijayendra says he has not called any Congress MLA, but our leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa said both Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa called him. I have a long list of MLAs they called and I will release it in the days to come,” Shivakumar said.

No Congress MLA crossvoted in last Tuesday’s Rajya Sabha polls. However, BJP MLA ST Somashekar voted for the Congress while saffron party MLA A Shivaram Hebbar, who represents Yellapur, abstained.

Congress managed to get all three of their candidates – Ajay Maken, Naseer Hussain and GC Chandrashekhar – elected to the Upper House.