Common worker rewarded, says Karnataka BJP on Deve Gowda's RS nomination snub

Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra on Monday (June 8) defended the party's decision to nominate Prof M Nagaraja for the Rajya Sabha elections, saying the BJP had chosen "a common worker who had honestly served the organisation" for the Rajya Sabha polls from Karnataka.

The clarification came amid criticism, including from the ruling Congress, accusing the saffron party of denying a Rajya Sabha nomination to former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, who recently turned 94. He stated that the nomination of the JD(S) patriarch was not discussed at the state unit level.

Also read: Why BJP snubbed Deve Gowda, picked new NDA face from Karnataka for RS polls

Late on Sunday, the BJP named Prof M Nagaraja as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha election from Karnataka. Based on its current strength in the Assembly, the party is comfortably placed to secure one of the four seats that will go to polls on June 18.

Gowda re-nomination speculation

The elections became necessary as four MPs, including Gowda, are set to retire later this month. The JD(S), an ally of the BJP, was reportedly hoping that the BJP would re-nominate its supremo to the Rajya Sabha.

“Deve Gowda has worked to strengthen the NDA and support Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is a senior leader, and we have immense respect for him. No discussions regarding Deve Gowda’s Rajya Sabha nomination took place at the state unit level,” Vijayendra said in response to a question, without commenting further on developments at the national level.

Also read: BJP announces candidates from Karnataka, MP for Rajya Sabha polls

He said former Mandya MP and actress Sumalatha Ambareesh’s name was discussed, but the leadership, after analysing the political situation, decided who should be given the ticket.

Ticket decision

Noting that the party had nominated a common worker who had served honestly, Vijayendra said in response to another question: “We in the party have great regard for Sumalatha. The BJP supported her when she contested the Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate in 2019. With our support, she won by a huge margin, and we are proud of it. She later gave up the seat for alliance partner JD(S)’s H D Kumaraswamy in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. There is no denying that.

“Things have not ended here. Certainly, the leadership will consider her for an appropriate position in the days ahead,” he added.

Along with Nagaraja as its Rajya Sabha candidate, the BJP on Sunday night also named Lingaraj Patil and Raghu Kautilya as its candidates for the Karnataka Legislative Council elections.

Candidates’ background

Speaking about the candidates, the BJP president said Nagaraja belongs to the backward Kuruba community, grew up in the RSS, and served in the ABVP and various positions within the BJP organisation, including as state vice-president.

He also served in the Karnataka Public Service Commission when B S Yediyurappa was the chief minister.

Also read: EC announces Rajya Sabha polls for 24 seats on June 18

While Lingaraj Patil has served the party organisation at both district and state levels since his ABVP days, Vijayendra said Raghu Kautilya, who belongs to the Madivala community, had served as chief of the party’s state OBC morcha and in various organisational roles.

He runs educational institutions and has also worked as a journalist. He had earlier contested MLC polls twice but lost by a narrow margin.

MLC polls

The Council elections have become necessary as the terms of seven MLCs—Congress leaders Govinda Raju, Naseer Ahmed, Tippannappa, and B K Hariprasad, along with BJP leaders N Nagaraju (MTB), Prathap Simha Nayak K, and Sunil Vallyapur—are set to expire upon their retirement on June 30.

The BJP can win two of these seven MLC seats based on its current strength in the Assembly, while the Congress has fielded candidates for the remaining five seats.

The ruling Congress has 135 MLAs in the 224-member Assembly, followed by the BJP with 62 and the JD(S) with 18. There are also members from smaller parties, independents, and expelled BJP MLAs.

Members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly will vote in both the Rajya Sabha and MLC elections.

Attack on Congress

Responding to a question, Vijayendra hit out at the Congress government over the alleged lack of development and internal fighting.

He said that the next two years would be spent balancing competing interests under the new Chief Minister, D K Shivakumar.

Also read: Why a Rajya Sabha seat is threatening Congress-JMM alliance in Jharkhand

“You can already see the issues that have emerged within 48 hours of Shivakumar being sworn in as chief minister. In the last three years, there has been no development; apart from corruption, they have achieved nothing. People expect them to perform at least in the remaining two years, but because of internal infighting, even that expectation appears to be fading,” he said.

Despite the change in chief minister, one cannot expect development under the Congress government, he added.

“The fight for portfolios has already begun. District in-charge ministers are yet to be appointed, and cabinet expansion has still not taken place. Looking at the situation, I do not know when the expansion will happen, especially as 20 berths remain to be filled.”

(With agency inputs)