The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : BJP names candidates for polls

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Saturday, Jun 14, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

BJP names candidates for polls

S. Rajendran

Bangalore: The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded the former Governor of Jharkhand Rama Jois and the former Congress MLC Prabhakar Kore for the Rajya Sabha elections. For the Legislative Council elections, the party has fielded Home Minister V.S. Acharya and three other party activists.

The elections will be held on June 26.

Functionaries

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa told The Hindu that the three other party functionaries for the Council elections are Siddaraju, president, State BJP Scheduled Tribes Morcha; N. Shankarappa, leader of the State BJP Backward Classes Morcha; and Bharathi Shetty, president, State Mahila Morcha.

To be nominated

The name of Minister for Minorities Welfare and Wakf Mumtaz Ali Khan, who is not a member of either House of the legislature, does not figure in the list. He will be nominated to the Council shortly along with four others.

Informal discussions have reportedly begun to pave the way for an understanding between the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) to enable the two parties to jointly win at least two of the four Rajya Sabha and three of the seven Council seats that are up for grabs. The last date for filing nominations is June 16.

There are nearly 85 candidates in the Congress who have sought ticket for the Rajya Sabha and Council polls. There are many aspirants in the JD(S) too.

The discussions between the leaders of the two parties have been welcomed by most leaders of the Congress and the JD(S). The relationship between the two parties touched rock bottom after the Dharam Singh government collapsed and a section of the JD(S), under the leadership of the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, formed a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

A meeting of the JD(S) Legislature Party, which was scheduled on Friday to ascertain the views of the legislators on the coming elections, was put off to Saturday since discussions with the Congress have begun.

Pointer to future

Should the two parties arrive at an understanding, it could turn out to be a sign of things to come during the next Lok Sabha elections.

Among Congress leaders seeking a Rajya Sabha nomination are C.K. Jaffer Sharief, S.M. Krishna, B. Janardhana Poojary, M. Veerappa Moily, Margaret Alva and M.V. Rajasekharan.

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