The biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha for four seats from Karnataka are interestingly poised, with cross-voting by a section of the elected members of the Legislative Assembly expected to prevail, which will be a significant factor to tilt the scales in favour of the ruling party. The elections are due on March 23, and in the 225-member Legislative Assembly there are seven vacancies at present and the lone nominated member has no voting rights.
In a way, the elections will be similar to the one held two years ago, but cross-voting in the present scenario will obviously indicate the grouping for the next round of the Legislative Assembly elections due in less than two months. By a clever move, the seven legislators who were expelled from the Janata Dal (Secular) for cross-voting and consequently violating the party whip during the last Rajya Sabha elections, continue to remain as members of the Legislative Assembly and it is their vote which will be vital for the third candidate, G.C. Chandrashekar, fielded by the Congress.
There are also the votes of the Independents and associate members of the political parties which will be crucial. In a way, all those legislators who vote for the Congress candidate will obviously land a party ticket for the Legislative Assembly elections and same is the case with the legislators who will vote for the candidate fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Legislators seeking to cross over to another political party for a variety of reasons will primarily be the ones wanting to vote in favour of a rival candidate and against their respective party whip, and this is expected to touch new heights at the present juncture.
By this measure, the Janata Dal (Secular) will lag behind since there are no members either in the Congress or the BJP who are keen to switch over their loyalties to the JD(S). Further, the JD(S) will not be in a position to draw votes from other parties for its candidate, B.M. Farook, since the Congress too has fielded a Muslim — Syed Naseer Hussain. Added to this, the JD(S) cannot seek the votes earmarked for the Congress’ third candidate — Mr. Chandrashekar, who is a Vokkaliga hailing from Hassan district.
In the bargain, the role of money power which has been quite common in the elections to the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Council is expected to take a back seat. In the last biennial elections, a complaint was made over to the Election Commission that the elections should be countermanded since some of the candidates were reportedly seeking to woo the voters — legislators — with money and that such acts did not augur well for a vibrant democracy. The complaint surfaced thanks to a sting operation by some television channels, although the “unedited footage” was not made over to the Election Commission as sought by the latter.
While all the three candidates of the Congress are members of the party organisation and locals, the same cannot be said of the candidates of the BJP and the JD(S), although the candidate of the former, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has been campaigning for a better management of the civic administration of Bengaluru.
Interestingly, he joined the BJP soon after he was given the Rajya Sabha ticket. If elected, he will create a record of sorts having been an Independent member of the Upper House for two consecutive terms since 2006 and now set for a third term as a member of the BJP.
(The writer is Resident Representative, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, Bengaluru.)
