The Siddaramaiah-led Congress with 122 members is assured of two seats for former ministers Jairam Ramesh and Oscar Fernandes in Karnataka. (File photo)
Playing for high stakes, ruling Congress in Karnataka has pulled out all stops for winning the third seat, while JDS battle dissidence in the biennial Rajya Sabha elections to be held tomorrow with allegations of cash for votes flying thick and fast.
Uncertainty over the elections to fill four seats were put to rest by the Election Commission which gave the go ahead to the polls yesterday, thus rejecting the demand for countermanding it over allegations of buying votes after "sting operations" by two TV channels in the volatile run-up to the polls.
The Congress with 122 members is assured of two seats for former ministers Jairam Ramesh and Oscar Fernandes, but with a surplus of 33 votes, the party has fielded former senior IPS officer KC Ramamurthy as its third candidate.
The required strength for victory is 45 votes.
The JDS party with 40 members was hit by dissidence. Five of its legislators have virtually raised a banner of revolt even as reports surfaced that they might indulge in cross voting to help Congress.
JDS needs five more votes for its candidate BM Farooq to sail through but is struggling to keep the herd together.
The JDS saw open defiance when four of its members stayed away from the legislature party meeting yesterday. The meeting was called to chalk out a strategy for the victory of the party candidates in both Rajya Sabha polls and Legislative Council polls.
For BJP, with 44 members, it is a question of only one extra vote for its candidate Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to reach the victory post.
The party is confident of more than making up the shortfall by wooing Independents.
High drama also marked the run-up to the polls with the Congress shepherding Independent legislators to Mumbai, apparently to keep its flock together, triggering a political storm with the Opposition accusing it of buying votes.
The development also saw the Returning Officer for Rajya Sabha polls, S Murthy asking the chief minister to clarify if he has promised increased development funds to legislators in return for their votes, which he promptly denied.
A political storm broke out after the footage of the "sting operations" by two TV channels were aired.
The footage by one channel showed a JD(S) legislator purportedly talking about money in crores of rupees for supporting a candidate.
A parallel "sting" operation by another channel showed Congress candidate KC Ramamurthy and Independent legislators purportedly speaking about getting increased development funds for the constituency from the government in return for votes.
The Election Commission has, however, given the green signal for the polls as scheduled, saying money power has not vitiated the process so much to warrant its cancellation even as the body asked CBI to probe the matter.
For BJP, Ms Sitharaman is seeking to step into the shoes of Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, who had won three Rajya Sabha terms from Karnataka.
Amid mounting public pressure, including protests by Kannada groups against re-nomination of Naidu, BJP decided to field Ms Sitharaman in his place, moving Mr Naidu to Rajasthan.
A social media campaign was launched against Mr Naidu's re-nomination on the ground that he had not done enough for Karnataka from where he secured three Rajya Sabha terms, and that he did not even learn Kannada.
Keen to shed the "outsider" tag, Ms Sitharaman has promised to learn Kannada and protect the interests of the state.