Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka: Congress and JD(S) slug it out for fourth seat

NEW DELHI: Sure of Oscar Fernandes and Jairam Ramesh’s victories in the Karnataka Rajya Sabha polls, Congress is making an all-out bid for the victory of its third candidate, retired IPS officer KC Ramamurthy, who is in a close race with JD(S) businessman candidate MH Farooq Bawa.

Chief minister Siddaramaiah and AICC general secretary in-charge Digvijaya Singh are overseeing the party’s challenge to Gowda’s political might and Farooq’s resourcefulness. With the fourth candidate needing 46 votes to win, JD(S) started with an advantage of 40 MLAs against Congress’ surplus 30 votes.

However, by Tuesday, sources in both parties said that the fight was too close to call. The Congress has reportedly secured the support of 10 of the 14 Independent MLAs even as JD(S) team led by Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy are going all-out to win over at least five of the Independents. Under the watchful eyes of the EC, both sides are leaving no stone unturned for the fourth seat. In at least the last five RS polls from the state, the Gowda-Kumaraswamy team had been sponsoring cash-rich candidates to win a seat.