A day after elections to the Rajya Sabha, KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar on Saturday said no party MLA had voted for BJP candidates and he was not aware of additional votes secured by candidates of other parties.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr. Shivakumar said there was no substance in claims made by BJP national general secretary C.T. Ravi that two Congress MLAs voted for the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections. As per the whip issued to MLAs, all 69 MLAs voted for party candidates former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, who was declared elected, and Mansoor Ali Khan, who had lost and secured least votes (25) among all candidates.
The KPCC chief said independent MLA Sharat Bachhe Gowda and JD(S) MLA Srinivas Gowda voted for Congress. In total, the party secured votes of 71 MLAs, he said.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor Jaggesh, former MLC Lehar Singh Siroya (all BJP) and Jairam Ramesh were declared winners in the elections.
On Friday, JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy had alleged that Mr. Ravi was seen entering the Congress office. He alleged that Mr. Ravi approached Congress to garner support for his party candidate and “co-operate” in the victory of the BJP candidate.
On maintaining distance with the JD(S) ahead of the next year's polls to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Shivakumar said, "Ask the party workers and see what they will say. Electoral gain and loss here is a different story. The party acted in a dignified manner and we safeguarded self-respect of all party leaders and workers," Mr. Shivakumar said.
Asked about the victory of three candidates of the BJP following the party's failure to strike an alliance with the JD(S), Mr. Shivakumar recalled circumstances leading to the formation of the BJP government in the State. "The collapse of the JD(S) and Congress coalition government pained us... We came to the streets to form the government. But Mr. Kumaraswamy went on a foreign tour without bothering about the stability of the government," Mr. Shivakumar said.
"We will build the organisation to win 150 Assembly seats. Let the JD(S) build the party to win 123 seats and BJP 150 seats," the KPCC chief said.
Soon after the Rajya Sabha elections were declared, Mr. Kumaraswamy went on a one-week break from all political activities. This, according to a release, is following doctor’s advise.
