3 seats for Cong.(I), 1 for BJP

By B. K. Vittal

BANGALORE, MARCH 29. All the three candidates put up by the ruling Congress(I) and one candidate put up by the BJP were elected in the biennial election held today for four Rajya Sabha seats.

There were five candidates in the field, including the liquor baron, Mr. Vijay Mallya. Mr. Mallya, who contested as an Independent with the support of the Janata Dal(U) and gave some anxious moment to the Congress(I) and the BJP, lost the election.

The candidates who won in the first round itself were Mr. K. Rahman Khan, Mr. K. B. Krishnamurthy, Ms. Bimba Raikar (all Congress-I) and Mr. M. Rajasekhara Murthy (BJP).

While Mr. Khan secured 49 votes, the other candidates who won got 46 votes each. Mr. Mallya too fared well, securing 35 votes. One of the 223 votes polled was declared invalid, according to Mr. Yakub Shariff, Assembly Secretary and Returning Officer for the election.

The election was expected to be unanimous at one stage with the Congress(I) and BJP sure of securing three seats and one seat, respectively, on the basis of the strength of the two parties in the Assembly. But the entry of Mr. Mallya as the fifth candidate with the support of the JD(U), which has 18 members in the House, upset the political arithmetic of the two parties.

The pattern of voting in the election, however, showed cross- voting from the Congress(I) side despite all the precautions taken by its leadership to ensure that this did not happen. The votes allotted to each of the three candidates and the actual votes polled by them showed that at least seven from the party had cross-voted.

According to Congress(I) party sources, Mr. Khan had been allotted 50 votes and the other two candidates 49 votes each. But together they polled only 141 votes.

The first to heave a sigh of relief during counting today was the BJP whose candidate was the first to reach the magic figure of 46 votes. The party has 43 members, excluding Mr. B. B. Shivappa who has been suspended from the primary membership of the party.

According to BJP sources, the party had expected about six votes more than its strength on the basis of support promised by some independents. However, it fell short by three votes.

The biennial election was held to fill the vacancies caused by the retirement on April 2 of Mr. Rahman Khan, Mr. B. Janardhana Poojary and Mr. H. Hanumanthappa, and the resignation of Mr. Murthy who gave up his seat in the Rajya Sabha after quitting the Congress(I) to join the BJP.

Unlike as in the past when the biennial election used to be almost a routine affair, the election this time witnessed some high drama right from the first stage of nominations. There was a lot of commotion with Mr. N. K. Venkateswara, a Secretary of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress(I) Committee, accompanied by Mr. C. K. Jaffer Sharief, party MP, filing his nomination papers on the last day set for it to the total embarrassment of the party leadership. He was, however, virtually forced by some party leaders to withdraw the nomination papers.

Ms. Bimba Raikar herself was a surprise candidate chosen by the party at the last minute following the Minister of State for Kannada and Culture, Ms. Rani Satish's refusal to contest for personal reasons.

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Section  : Regional
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