An election just in a name?

BANGALORE: Chief Minister D V Sadananda  Gowda’s election to the Upper House appears to be a mere formality with five Independents throwing their weight behind him on Wednesday. Besides them, the JD(S) too is likely to abstain from the polls,  thus paving way for a smooth sailing for Gowda.The election to the lone Council seat will be held on Thursday and the result will be announced in the evening. The election was necessitated after BJP member Shankarappa resigned to pave the way for Gowda to complete his Constitutional obligation — of becoming a Member of either of the Houses within six months. Gowda assumed office on August 4, 2011.With the Independents announcing their support to the ruling party and the JD(S) almost deciding to abstain, all hopes of the Opposition Congress to spring a surprise have completely gone haywire. Despite having no numbers on its side, the Congress fielded political lightweight Anand Gaddadevaramath, a former youth Congress functionary, hoping to cash in on former minister B Sriramulu’s grudge against BJP along with the support of JD(S). During the start of the election process, Sriramulu had claimed that he had the support of 22 BJP MLAs and he would do everything possible to defeat Gowda. However, Sriramulu had kept a low profile as the voting day neared.Meanwhile, the BJP, which had taken all its MLAs to a resort on the outskirts of the city on Wednesday, has brought them back after securing the support of Independents. The BJP is also expecting cross-voting by a few Congress members who are not happy with the state party leadership. This cross-voting is expected to stretch the margin of Gowda’s victory beyond 130, BJP sources opined. On the other hand, the Congress has issued a whip after its legislature party meeting on Wednesday. As many as 21 MLAs remained absent from the meeting.