JD(S) fields 2nd nominee for MLC polls, seeks BJP support

Bengaluru: May 31: The JD(S)?on Monday sprung a surprise by fielding two candidates for the polls to the Legislative Council. It is banking on the support of the BJP?to win the second seat.

The party last week had announced former MLC?K?V?Narayanaswamy as the candidate. On Monday, it introduced a new face to the party - S?M Venkatapathi, who is runs a chain of hospitals and educational institutions in Bengaluru. He hails from Hoskote. Both the candidates filed their papers on Monday.

The elections (if required) are scheduled to be held for seven seats of the Council on June 10, with MLAs as the electoral college.

A candidate needs a minimum of 29 votes to get elected. The ruling Congress, with 123 MLAs, can win four seats, while the BJP and the JD(S) with 44 and 40 MLAs respectively, can win one each. The BJP and the JD(S) will be left with excess votes.

It is these excess votes that the JD(S) is banking on to get its second candidate elected. The BJP has 15 and the JD(S) 11 excess votes, after allotting votes to their first candidate.

The JD(S) legislature party, held on Monday, formally endorsed the name of Venkatapathi as the candidate. He is the chairman of the East-Point group of educational institutions and hospitals. A native of Hoskote, he is a Vokkaliga and a one-time close associate of the late Jeevaraj Alva in the erstwhile Janata party.

“We are in talks with the BJP, seeking their support for our second candidate. They should remember that we suported their candidate, Mallikarjun, in the 2014 Council elections and reciprocate,” Kumaraswamy told a press conference.

On Monday, two of the four candidates fielded by the Congress - Veena Achaiah and Youth Congress president Rizwan Arshad - filed their papers. Former KPCC?president Allum Veerabhadrappa and former minister B B?Thimmapur will file their papers on Tuesday.
It may be a quid pro quo

If the BJP and the JD(S) come to an understanding, then all seven candidates in fray will get elected unopposed to the Council.

If the BJP wants to hold the reins of administration in the BBMP?council, it will have to heed the request by the JD(S) and not field a second candidate for the Council elections.

The Congress may lose the support of the JD(S) in the BBMP. Talks are on between JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy and BJP?leaders R?Ashoka and D?V?Sadananda Gowda, sources said. The BJP nominee is V?Somanna. It has not totally given up the idea of a second candidate. The names of Lehar Singh and Katta Subramanya Naidu have cropped up.

Kumaraswamy said, “We may have to take some hard decisions when it comes to the BBMP.” His efforts to get the support of the Congress to win a Rajya Sabha seat have failed. Hence, he is in talks with the BJP.