JD(S) waits for miracle to win Rajya Sabha poll

Bengaluru: While the ruling Congress is trying to secure the support of ten Independent legislators to ensure the victory of its third candidate, Mr K.C. Ramamurthy, Janata Dal (Secular) is waiting for a miracle to happen so that its candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls wins.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the Janata Dal Legislative Party (JDLP) is slated to be held in Vidhana Soudha on Monday to discuss and finalise the candidature of Mr B.M. Farook for the Rajya Sabha polls. But five JD(S) legislators led by Mr Zameer Ahmed Khan are giving sleepless nights to State JD(S) President H.D. Kumaraswamy, stating that they will vote for Mr Ramamurthy, a retired IPS officer.

This has made Mr Kumaraswamy rework his strategy to reach the magic number of 45 with the likely support of some Congress legislators including rebel, Mr A.S. Patil Nadahalli to make sure Mr Farook wins.

In the meantime, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has given full powers to Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar to ‘manage’ the support of the maximum JD(S) legislators to ensure a smooth victory for Mr Ramamurthy.

Already, ten independent legislators met the Chief Minister Saturday night and are learnt to have extended their full support to the Congress on the ground that they would be given more funds for the development of their constituencies.
The five JD(S) legislators too are learnt to be eager to embarras Mr Kumaraswamy and JD(S) National President H.D. Deve Gowda by voting for the Congress sponsored candidate.

Mr Deve Gowda is learnt to have spoken to the disgruntled party MLAs asking them not to vote for Mr Ramamurthy but it is unsure of the legislators will respect Mr Gowda's request and vote for Mr Farook.  

State JDS President H D Kumaraswamy said the ten independent legislators may have proposed the name of Mr Farook but there was no guarantee they would support him.

"The CM has reportedly promised Rs 25 crore for each constituency of  independent legislators if they support Mr Ramamurthy. We are in constant touch with a few Congress legislators to support us as they are unsure if Congress will return to power in 2018 Assembly polls," he said.