RS polls: All 4 candidates from Karnataka set to be elected unopposed


PTI, Jun 10, 2020, 7:44 PM IST

Bengaluru: With four candidates, including former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge in the fray for as many berths, the Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka scheduled for June 19 is all set to be an unanimous affair.

Karnataka Legislative Assembly Secretary M K Vishalakshi, who is the returning officer for the polls, on Wednesday declared the candidature of Gowda and Kharge from JD(S) and Congress, and BJP’s Iranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti as “validly nominated.”

The papers of independent candidate Sangamesh Chikkanaragunda were rejected during scrutiny of nominations.

“With only four candidates, the election is all set to be unopposed and unanimous. Voting will not be required. It will be clear on the last date for withdrawal of candidature,” official sources said.

June 12 is the last date for withdrawal of candidature. The election is scheduled on June 19 to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka, represented by Rajeev Gowda and B K Hariprasad of Congress, Prabhakar Kore of BJP and D Kupendra Reddy of JD(S) that will fall vacant on June 25 with their retirement.

The BJP, with 117 members in the assembly (including Speaker), is in a position to ensure easy victory in two out of the four seats and the Congress, with 68 MLAs, in one.

The JD(S), which has 34 seats in the assembly and not in a position to win a seat in the Rajya Sabha on its own, has Congress’ support with its surplus votes.

A minimum of 45 votes are required for a candidate to win. However, voting will not be necessitated in this election as no party fielded any additional candidate against each other and limited their contest to the number of seats they can win, based on their strength in the assembly.

On getting elected, this will be the first stint in the Rajya Sabha for Kharge, who has always got elected directly by the people in his over four-decade-long political career.

Kharge, earlier popularly known as “Solillada Saradara”, (a leader without defeat), faced his first electoral loss in his political life against BJP’s Umesh Jadhav in Gulbarga by a margin of 95,452 votes during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

For 87-year-old Gowda this will be the second Rajya Sabha entry, the first time being in 1996 as Prime Minister. He faced defeat in Tumkur constituency against BJP’s G S Basavaraj by over 13,000 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as he decided to contest at the last minute after vacating Hassan – his home turf, to grandson Prajwal Revanna (a current MP).

For BJP’s Iranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti, who are “low profile” compared to stalwarts Gowda and Kharge, this will be the first major break in their political careers. Both have an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad background and worked for the organisation at the grass-root level for decades.

BJP’s central leadership had sprung a surprise by fielding Kadadi and Gasti as candidates, ignoring the recommendations of the party’s state unit.

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

No one should be displaced over Waqf land issue in Kerala’s Munambam, says CPI

Non-performance of batters is worrying, we will strive to do something special in Australia: Rohit

K-Rail can be implemented if technical issues in design addressed, says Centre

Naxalism will be wiped out from country by March 2026: Home Minister Amit Shah

How biscuits played an unconventional yet key role in anti-terror operation in Srinagar

Koderma stone industry to be revived with Rs 500 cr special package: Shah

Journalists facing atrocities under BJP regime: SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav

Related Articles More

BJP MLA Yatnal calls for indefinite protest against illegal waqf property entries

Udupi: DC clears confusion over ‘Sultanpur’ mention in Dishank App

Accident claims life of biker near Thekkatte

Subrahmanya: Youth assaulted for texting female student

Kadaba: ‘Notion that only English-medium education leads to success is misleading’

MUST WATCH

Gho Pooja in Deepavali Festival

Melukote Deepavali

Ganapathi Co-operative Society Ltd

Udayavani Chinnara Banna 2024

Annapoorna Aahar | Food Places In Mysore


Latest Additions

No one should be displaced over Waqf land issue in Kerala’s Munambam, says CPI

India and China made ‘some progress’ in disengagement, says EAM S Jaishankar

Non-performance of batters is worrying, we will strive to do something special in Australia: Rohit

K-Rail can be implemented if technical issues in design addressed, says Centre

Naxalism will be wiped out from country by March 2026: Home Minister Amit Shah

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.