From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bangalore, June 3: Former BJP national president M Venkaiah Naidu and former MP Ayanur Manjunath filed their nomination papers as BJP candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls on June 17 from the Karnataka legislative assembly on Wednesday.

Surprisingly, neither the Congress nor JD(S) candidates filed their nomination papers though it was widely reported that both parties had agreed to a seat-sharing formula of JD(S) extending support for the second candidate from Congress in return for allowing JD(S) to contest for two legislative council seats.

However, the decision of the Congress party, which can win just one seat on its own and needs extra votes for the victory of the second candidate, to field retiring Rajya Sabha members Oscar Fernandes and B K Hariprasad was not acceptable to the JD(S).  It is understood that the JD(S) was not willing to extend support to Hariprasad and demanded that the Congress should field the second candidate of its choice. Apparently, the JD(S) was keen on fielding Kupendra Reddy and had been pressing the Congress to support his candidature.

It may be mentioned here that the BJP can win two candidates and will have about 25 surplus votes as the party’s strength in the assembly is 115. But the Congress with a strength of 74 members can win just a single seat on its own and will have about 29 excess votes. The JD(S) with a strength of 27 in the assembly is not in a position to do anything. With neither the Congress and JD(S) interested in collaborating with BJP, it the candidate who can get either of the two parties to provide the necessary numbers to file the nomination papers and can get the excess votes from BJP is in a position to win.

Thus, a candidate like UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya, with deep pockets, who is also retiring and had almost decided against entering the fray, could pull off a coup as he can manage to convince the Congress and JD(S) and perhaps even the BJP to support his candidature. In fact, entrepreneur Rajiv Chandrashekar was also able to win in this manner.

The breakdown in talks with Congress and JD(S) leaders over the seat-sharing arrangement  resulted in both the parties fielding two candidates each in the biennial elections to the legislative council from the legislative assembly. In the council elections too, the JD(S) is able to win just a single seat on its own while Congress is in a position to get two of its candidates elected. The ruling BJP, however, can easily get four of its candidates through.

Though former chief minister and state JD(S) chief H D Kumaraswamy, who returned empty-handed without succeeding in persuading the Congress party to back Kupendra Reddy or drop Hariprasad and choose somebody else in his place, it remains to be whether the leaders of both parties can arrive at some last-minute compromise by Thursday as it is the last day for withdrawal of nominations in the council polls. Thus, if a compromise is arrived at between Congress and JD(S), the Congress party will have to withdraw its second candidate paving the way for the Congress party to have two of its nominees elected.

Whether the Congress and JD(S) manage to reach an understanding, will decide whether there will elections to the council or not.

Meanwhile, the BJP candidates Venkaiah Naidu and Ayanur Manjunath, were accompanied by Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, BJP national general secretary H N Ananth Kumar, Transport Minister R Ashok and state planning board deputy chairman D H Shankaramurthy.  Naidu, who had represented Karnataka earlier, will see his Rajya Sabha term expiring on June 30, while Manjunath, a former MLA and Shimoga lok sabha member, is entering the upper house for the first time.

The chief minister, who spoke to reporters after the filing of nomination papers by his party candidates, made it clear that BJP was in favour of unanimous elections to Rajya Sabha and had not attempted to try its luck for the third candidate on the directions of the party high command though it had surplus votes. ``It is for the Congress and JD(S) to decide whether they want to have an election or ensure the unanimous election,” he said.

Meanwhile, former MLC, N Thippanna and state BJP treasurer Lehar Singh, who had nominated to the legislative council, were sworn in by council chairman Veeranna Mathikatti.

Thippanna, had been nominated to the  council by the JD(S) earlier, and had quit the upper house membership to join BJP as part of the ruling party’s strategy of preventing JD(S) to bag the opposition leader’s post in the council. He had also served as the State president of JD(S) ata crucial juncture when JD(S) joined hands with the BJP to form a coalition government.