Bengaluru: In election-bound Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has fielded three Kannadigas in the Rajya Sabha polls by saying no to party high command suggested outsiders: Sam Pitroda and Janardhan Dwivedi.
The Congress has finalised the names of AICC spokesman Nasir Hussain, Dalit poet L Hanumanthaiah and a Vokkaliga leader GC Chandrasekhar for the three seats it can win in March 23 polls to the Upper House of Parliament.
Karnataka can send four MPs to Rajya Sabha once in two years. The ruling Congress can easily win two seats and needs a few extra votes for the third seat. The BJP can win just one seat. The JDS does not have required number of votes to elect its candidate and business tycoon BM Farooq.
The Congress has refused to back the JDS candidate and has fielded a Vokkaliga to the fourth seat complicating the matters for JDS, which is known as a Vokkaliga party. It now has to make a choice between a Vokkaliga and a Muslim.
The BJP is yet to finalise the name for the lone seat it can win. Businessman and sitting MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar is front-runner for this seat. But Kannada organisations are demanding that he should not be sent to Rajya Sabha as he is an outsider.
They have even started a social media campaign with a #RajeevBeda to put pressure on the BJP.
During his visit to New Delhi last week, Siddaramaiah had categorically said no to sending Sam Pitroda and Janardhan Dwivedi from Karnataka saying that only Kannadigas should represent the state in the Upper House of Parliament.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi later decided to send Sam Pitroda from Gujarat.
The fight for the fourth seat between Congress and JDS is likely to be intense as Gowda's candidate is a super rich business tycoon whose declared assets are worth over Rs 780 crore. He had lost to Congress' K C Ramamurthy in 2016 Rajya Sabha elections.
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