Bengaluru, June 8 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates for the Rajya Sabha and Karnataka Legislative Council elections filed their nomination papers at Vidhana Soudha on Monday in the presence of senior party leaders.

Prof. M. Nagaraj, the BJP’s candidate for the Rajya Sabha election from the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, along with party candidates Lingaraj Patil and Raghu Kautilya for the Legislative Council seats, submitted their nominations.

Senior leaders, including BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra, Central Parliamentary Board member and former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, Legislative Council Opposition Leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, former Deputy Chief Minister Dr C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Rajya Sabha member Lehar Singh, Legislative Assembly Opposition Chief Whip Doddanagouda G. Patil, and Legislative Council Opposition Chief Whip N. Ravikumar, were present and extended their best wishes to the candidates.

Meanwhile, the election to seven Karnataka Legislative Council seats has triggered intense political activity after the BJP-JD(S) alliance fielded a surprise third candidate, Govindaraju, altering the expected electoral equations and challenging the Congress’s strategy to secure its fifth candidate unopposed.

With this move, eight candidates are now contesting for seven seats, turning the election into a closely watched political contest.

The Congress had initially expected its fifth candidate to be elected unopposed. However, following consultations between BJP and JD(S) leaders, the NDA alliance decided to field Govindaraju as its third candidate. Sources said JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy held discussions with the BJP central leadership before finalising the decision.

For a candidate to win in the MLC elections, 28 MLA votes are required. Based on the current strength, the JD(S) has 18 MLAs and the BJP has 62 MLAs. The alliance is also expecting support from Independent MLA G. Janardhan Reddy and expelled MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal.

The Congress, which has 134 MLAs, is expected to comfortably win four seats and still retain surplus votes. In addition, there are two Independent MLAs, one each from the Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha (KRPP) and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha (SKP). Three expelled BJP MLAs are currently serving as unattached members, while two seats remain vacant due to the disqualification of Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni and the death of D. Sudhakar.

Based on these calculations, the Congress can secure four seats with ease, while the BJP is expected to win two. However, the NDA’s third candidate, Govindaraju, is still estimated to be short of around four to five votes for victory.

Leaders from both the BJP and JD(S) are reportedly making efforts to bridge the gap, with behind-the-scenes attempts to reach out to some Congress MLAs. Several meetings are also being held under the leadership of Legislative Party leader Suresh Babu as the alliance works on its next strategy.

The BJP-JD(S) combine’s efforts to secure the additional votes have now become a key subject of political speculation.

Reacting to the developments, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar earlier in the day said in Bengaluru that politics is unpredictable.

“When playing a game of chess in politics, does anyone say in advance which piece they will move? No one does,” he said, while responding to questions on Vinay Karthik’s candidature and the JD(S) fielding an additional candidate.

–IANS

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