The JD(S) on Saturday decided to field party supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda for the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka. This comes a day after the Congress decided to field Mallikarjuna Kharge for the Rajya Sabha. Like Kharge, Gowda too was defeated in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
But for Gowda to sail through, the Congress will have to give its 23 surplus votes to the JD(S) veteran which it is not averse to because the support will ensure that the JD(S) will move away from the BJP.
Elections to four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka are scheduled for June 19 with June 9 being the last date for filing of nomination papers.
Meanwhile, the state BJP's core committee will be meeting to shortlist the party candidates which will then be sent to the central leadership.
The BJP is toying with the idea of nominating either Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty or the late Union minister Ananth Kumar’s wife and party state vice-president Tejaswini, leaving another seat to a political stalwart.
Tejaswini seems to enjoy an edge over Sudha Murthy as she has cadre “sympathy” due to her losing out on the Bangalore South LS seat in 2019 — held by her husband for six consecutive terms.
Considering its current strength in the state assembly, two BJP candidates and one Congress candidate can easily sail through.
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