Tag : JD-S

Bengaluru: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka had the last laugh as it won all the three Rajya Sabha seats it had contested in, out of total four from the state, that went for polls on Friday, while the Congress managed to win only one of the two seats to which it had fielded its candidates. The Janata Dal-Secular which had fielded one candidate, despite not having enough votes, failed to win any, as Congress did not accept its request for support in the name of secularism. Incidentally, despite a whip, a JD-S MLA voted for the Congress [https://www.rediff.com/news/report/rs-poll-i-voted-cong-because-i-love-it-says-jd-s-mla/20220610.htm], saying he did so as he 'loved' the grand old party. This poll results has given an edge to the BJP, amid the fight for 'secular votes' between the Congress and JD-S. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor-politician Jaggesh, and outgoing MLC Lehar Singh Siroya --all from the BJP, and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh of Congress were declared victorious by the poll officials after counting of votes. Sitharaman and Ramesh have been re-elected from Karnataka to the Upper House of Parliament for a consecutive third and fourth term respectively, while for Jaggesh and Siroya this will be their first stint. There was suspense over the outcome of the contest for the fourth seat, which witnessed a tight contest between all the three political parties, as they had fielded candidates despite none of them having adequate number of votes to win it, and thereby forcing an election. A total of six candidates were in the fray for the Rajya Sabha elections to four seats from the state, necessitating a contest for the fourth one. The fight for the fourth seat saw a direct contest between S ...