Ahead of RS polls, Shivakumar accuses Kumaraswamy of making offers to Congress MLAs to cross-vote

Shivakumar said coalition partners BJP and JD(S) have fielded a fifth candidate for the RS polls to lure Congress legislators with offers to cross-vote against party candidates.

Owing to the strength of the Congress in the Legislative Assembly and the support of independent legislators, the party is expecting to win three out of the four seats for which polls will be held.

Congress has fielded AICC treasurer Ajay Maken as a fresh candidate from the state, while repeating Syed Nasir Hussain and G C Chandrashekar as its three candidates. The BJP has fielded former MLC Narayansa Bhandage as its candidate. The JD(S) sprang a surprise by nominating former MP D Kupendra Reddy as its candidate and forced an election for the RS polls.

This had raised fears in the Congress camp about securing wins for all three candidates nominated by the party. The Congress has 135 members in the Assembly. The minimum number of votes required for a candidate to sail through is 45. The combined strength of the BJP and the JD(S) is 85, as they have 66 and 19 MLAs, respectively.

Although the election of Bhandage was certain, the coalition would need five more votes to help secure Reddy’s win. The coalition, too, has its concerns as BJP MLA and former minister S T Somashekar was seen meeting and travelling with Shivakumar in recent days.