Bangalore: The biennial elections for four Rajya Sabha seats from the State on March 28 are expected to throw up some surprises. The Congress is reportedly attempting to repeat what it did in 2004 when it got a second candidate elected despite being short of the required number of votes. In the 225-member Legislative Assembly, a Rajya Sabha candidate has to obtain a minimum of 45 votes for victory.

None of the three major parties — the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) with 79, 64 and 59 members respectively — is keen to field an additional candidate and fish for votes from other parties. Top leaders of the three parties have said that the elections will be a tame affair with victory assured for the candidates fielded by them.

The JD(S) has categorically stated that it will field only one candidate. However, the BJP has said that it will be fielding two candidates. The second candidate requires the support of at least five independents and five JD(U) members. The Congress has not said anything yet. It is likely to initiate discussions with the Siddaramaiah group in the JD(S) before deciding whether to field a second candidate.

Will JD(S) issue whip?

A contest for the four seats largely depends on whether the JD(S) issues a whip to its MLAs. If a whip is issued, some members who are with the former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah or even those associated with the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda may defy the whip and then challenge the action initiated against them. If the JD(S) refrains from issuing a whip, some of its disgruntled MLAs may end up voting for the Congress candidate. This is why the Congress is playing a waiting game before deciding whether to field one or two candidates.

Congress to consult Sonia

The Leader of the Opposition N. Dharam Singh told The Hindu that Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President M. Mallikarjun Kharge and he along with All-India Congress Committee General Secretary in charge of the State A.K. Antony will discuss the matter with Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Saturday before the party candidates are finalised. Of the four Rajya Sabha members from the State retiring this month, three are from the Congress.

The Congress is yet to decide whether Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha K. Rahman Khan, who is among the four who will retire, should be re-nominated. This is Mr. Khan's second term in the Rajya Sabha.

Sources in the BJP said the election committee of the party had a preliminary meeting on Wednesday to finalise the two candidates. The final announcement will be made by the party leadership in New Delhi shortly. The most likely candidates are the former Union Minister V. Dhananjaya Kumar and the former Minister K.B. Shanappa.

In 2004, the Congress candidates Oscar Fernandes and B.K. Hariprasad sailed through thanks to the support extended by the JD(S). The second BJP candidate, Shakuntala Hegde, wife of the late Ramakrishna Hegde, lost the elections since she could neither enlist the support of JD(S) electors nor of any of the independents.

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