Five in fray for four Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka
Bengaluru: Five candidates, including three from the ruling Congress and one each from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) filed nominations for the biennial election to four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka, an EC official said on Monday.
"Of the five candidates, four have filed nominations on the last date (Monday), including three from the Congress and one from the BJP, while JD-S candidate B.M. Farooq had filed nomination on March 9," the Election Commission (EC) official said.
The Congress candidates are L. Hanumanthaiah, G.C. Chandrasekhar and Syed Naseer Hussain, and BJP candidate is Rajeev Chandrashekar, who is seeking a second term, as his first term as an Independent member ends on April 2.
The election has been necessitated to fill the vacancies arising out of retirement of incumbent members Basawaraj Patil, Rahman Khan and R. Ramakrishna of the Congress, and Chandrasekhar.
In the 225-member state legislative assembly, including one nominated, the Congress has 122 legislators, BJP 48 and JD-S 37. Of all, 7 seats are vacant.
As each candidate needs 45 votes to win the contest, the Congress is in a position to get two of its nominees elected easily, while its third candidate with 37 votes will have to get 13 more votes to make up for the shortfall.
With Chandrashekar assured of victory by virtue of the BJP having 48 votes, the contest will be for the fourth seat between the Congress and the JD-S, whose strength got reduced to 37 after three of its members were suspended for revolting against its leadership.
The JD-S also fears cross-voting by some of its members in favour of the ruling Congress' third nominee.
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CPI(M) rallies behind party member on his remarks against Rahul, Priyanka
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The ruling CPI(M) leaders on Monday rallied behind the party's politburo member A Vijayaraghavan in the raging political row over his controversial remarks on the Lok Sabha poll victories of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Wayanad.
During a recent party event in Wayanad, Vijayaraghavan reportedly claimed that Rahul secured victory in the high-range segment twice with the support of communal forces and that extremist elements were present at Priyanka Gandhi's campaign rallies.
Prominent Marxist party leaders on Monday said that Vijayaraghavan didn't say anything wrong or against the party's policy and they would oppose minority communalism and majority communalism alike.
They also reiterated the charges raised by Vijayaraghavan against the Congress and accused the grand-old party of entering into an unholy nexus with communal outfits for electoral gains.
The CPI(M) leadership came out in support of the politburo member a day after the Congress and their United Democratic Front (UDF) ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), alleged that Vijayaraghavan was attempting to provoke majority communalism in society.
When his reaction was sought by the media, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said what Vijayaraghavan had said was accurate and alleged that communal outfits like SDPI and Jamaat-e-islami were acting like front partners of the UDF.
He charged that their nexus was evident during the recent Palakkad Assembly bypoll.
The criticism against the Jamaat-e-islami was not against the Muslim community and the opposition against the RSS was not against the Hindus, he said, adding that the CPI(M) would not show any compromise in opposing both the minority and majority communalism.
Strongly supporting Vijayaraghavan, senior CPI(M) leader and ruling LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan said the leader had criticised the stand of the Congress party, which forges a nexus with communal forces during elections.
"Vijayaraghavan has not taken any communal stand. His remarks were also not meant to promote communalism. He has taken a stand that can safeguard society from communal forces," he said.
Senior leader and former minister P K Sreemathi also said Vijayaraghavan had not said anything other than the Marxist party's policy and stand.
Pointing out that communal and extremist forces are gaining strength in the state, she said they cannot be allowed to flourish in Kerala.
"Whoever it is... whether it is Hindu communalism or Muslim extremism, the CPI(M) will take a strong stand against it," she said.
She also accused the Congress of forging ties with communal forces during elections.
On Sunday, Congress leaders accused Vijayaraghavan of making comments against Rahul and Priyanka to "please" the Sangh Parivar, while the IUML alleged that he was attempting to provoke majority communalism in society.
AICC general secretary K C Venugopal strongly criticised Vijayaraghavan, accusing him of using "communal" language that even the Sangh Parivar might hesitate to employ against Rahul. Venugopal also questioned whether the CPI(M) shared the same opinion.
Leader of Opposition, V D Satheesan, echoed similar sentiments, charging the CPI(M) with pushing the same communal agenda propagated by the Sangh Parivar.
Harshly criticising Vijayaraghavan, KPCC chief K Sudhakaran accused the ruling CPI(M) of "surrendering to extreme communalism and providing support to the RSS in the state".
