BENGALURU, Karnataka: The Supreme Court’s verdict on Wednesday, which allows 17 disqualified Karnataka MLAs to contest by-elections, even as it upheld then speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar’s ruling on disqualifying them, has placed the ruling BJP and its chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa in a win-win situation.
By-polls to 15 out of these 17 assembly seats which fell vacant following the disqualification of MLAS are scheduled on December 5.
The onus to retain their constituencies is now squarely on the 15 former Congress-JD(S) MLAs, most of whom will be getting a BJP ticket.
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Yediyurappa has already done the spadework for the 15 disqualified MLAs to get a headstart in the by-polls by generously sanctioning funds to their constituencies, much to the dismay of other BJP legislators. The Supreme Court’s decision to allow them to contest is seen as a victory in BJP circles, as the party would have had to fall back on aspirants back home to contest in the 15 constituencies which have been Congress, JD(S) strongholds.
“The BJP has never won in the 15 constituencies (except K.R. Puram and Yeshwanthpur in 2008) and by fielding the disqualified MLAs from the Congress and JD(S), chances of the party’s victory are high, as they have established themselves. The party needs eight MLAs for the government to continue and we are confident of getting the numbers,’” said BJP state spokesperson Vaman Acharya.
16 of the 17 disqualified MLAs joined the BJP on Thursday.
According to BJP sources, tickets would be given to 13 of the 15 former legislators, with Athani (Belagavi district) and Ranebennur (Haveri district) likely to go to party workers.
“It’s the party’s responsibility to give tickets to all as only because of them the BJP government would be formed. They resigned their assembly seats at the behest of the party’s central leadership. While tickets will be given, the onus of getting elected is on the candidates,” said a senior BJP functionary.
Revolt in the ranks
But the move has resulted in dissent in some constituencies—in Hoskote BJP aspirant Sharat Bachegowda, son of BJP M B.N. Bachgowda, has openly rebelled against the party as the ticket is expected to be given to disqualified Congress MLA M.T.B. Nagaraj. He rejected the chairmanship of the Karnataka Housing Board offered by Yediyurappa and has decided to contest independently. Sharat has received support from unexpected quarters—the JD(S)—with former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil accompanying him on Thursday to file his nomination papers from Hoskote.
“The Congress, which was expecting the court to uphold the former speaker’s ruling of not allowing the disqualified MLAs to contest elections until the tenure of the present assembly (2023) ends, is looking to exploit the revolt in the BJP camp.”
In Belagavi district, four-time former BJP MLA Raju Kage has said he will join the Congress. He was seeking a ticket from Kagwad, which is now expected to go to former Congress MLA Srimanth Balasaheb Patil.
The Congress, which was expecting the court to uphold the former speaker’s ruling of not allowing the disqualified MLAs to contest elections until the tenure of the present assembly (2023) ends, is looking to exploit the revolt in the BJP camp.
“Allowing the disqualified MLAs to contest defeats the very purpose of the anti-defection Act. It has legitimised the corrupt practices of MLAs and given the stamp of approval to topple a government, when there is audio-visual proof of Yediyurappa saying it was done at the behest of the central leadership,” said Congress MLC K. Prakash Rathod.
While 9 December (when the results will be announced) will decide the fate of Yediyurappa and the BJP government in Karnataka, BJP sources claim the verdict is in favour of the chief minister for now. Post by-polls, if the party performs well, the new challenge for the CM will be accommodating the newly elected MLAs into the cabinet, which has 16 berths to be filed.
“Though the defections may have been engineered by our party leaders, the Congress-JD(S) MLAs resigned for various reasons. Majority of them were former CM Siddaramaiah’s supporters and it cannot be said monetary consideration was the sole reason. Some of the disqualified MLAs are capable of funding a party’s entire poll expenditure,” said a senior BJP leader.