Hectic parleys in Congress, BJP for K’taka RS berths

BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: :With four members of the Rajya Sabha retiring this month, the race to replace them has intensified in Karnataka. Potential candidates from both national parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress-- are lobbying their party leaderships for nominations to the Upper house.

Two Congress members –B K Hariprasad and Prof M V Rajeev Gowda -- are due to retire on June 25 along with the BJP’s Prabhakar Kore and D Kupendra Reddy of the Janata Dal (Secular) when their terms end.

Given the current composition in the 224-member Karnataka assembly, where the BJP has 117 MLAs, the Congress 68 , JDS 34 and independents three (two seats are vacant), the BJP can have two Rajya Sabha MPs elected and the Congress one – but with extra votes to spare -and the JDS, if it manages additional votes, one.

For election to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, a member would require 44 votes. So the BJP can comfortably have two members elected, with votes to spare. Kore, an education baron, is keen for another term, but the BJP is unlikely to nominate him, given that he has already has served two consecutive terms.

Tejaswini, the wife of late former Union minister Ananth Kumar who narrowly missed out on the Bangalore South Lok Sabha seat won by her husband for six consecutive terms, is considered to be a key contender.

Ramesh Katti, the brother of BJP’s eight-term MLA Umesh Katti, has publicly declared that chief minister BS Yediyurappa should keep his promise of sending him to the Upper house.

“I have urged the CM to fulfil his promise of (sending me to the RS) he made last year when I was denied the Chikkodi Lok Sabha ticket,” Katti told HT.

A lesser known name doing the rounds as a potential candidate is of Prof M Nagaraj, known as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) ideologue from the northern Karnataka stronghold of the BJP. The BJP state-incharge Muralidhara Rao himself is seen as a contender for one of the Rajya Sabha seats. Industrialist and media baron Vijay Sankeshwar, a former three-term Lok Sabha member, is also seen to be in the running.

Two surprising names doing the rounds as potential BJP nominees are of Sudha Murthy –philanthropist and the wife of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy -- and KV Kamath, former chief of ICICI Bank.

A senior BJP leader who did not want to be identified told HT: “Ultimately it will be a call of the party high command in consultation with the chief minister...”.

For the lone seat the Congress can win, former leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge is seen as the front-runner. The other names being mentioned are of former union ministers K H Muniyappa and Veerpa Moily. Muniyappa, a seven-term MP, told HT: “I am not an aspirant and would gladly support any choice made by the high command...” The Congress would have nearly 24 votes to spare and is likely to support JDS supremo and former PM HD Deve Gowda if he decides to contest.

FOR ELECTION TO THE RAJYA SABHA FROM KARNATAKA, A MEMBER WOULD REQUIRE 44 VOTES