BANGALORE: Strongly defending fielding of a candidate for the December 22 by-election to the Upper House from the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, KPCC president Dr G Parameshwar expressed confidence to sail through the contest.Parameshwar told Express that those who were opposed to the ‘communal forces’ and were unhappy over the failure of the state government were expected to express their resentment through secret ballot and defeat Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda.Stating that the decision to field Congress candidate for the Council bypoll was taken after consultations within the party, the KPCC president said the “contest is not nominal but a serious proposition”.The party high command has cleared the candidature of Anand Gaddadevaramath, a former Youth Congress functionary from Gadag district, for the bypoll.The Congress has a strength of 71 members in the 225-member Karnataka Assembly, followed by 26 from the JD(S), six independents, including Sriramulu, while the ruling BJP enjoys the simple majority with 122 members, including the Speaker, one independent and one nominated.The BJP, which has already announced that it would issue whip to all party legislators to cast their votes in favour of party candidate D V Sadananda Gowda, has warned of stringent action against those who violate the party’s dictate.The party has suspended three legislators from Bellary district who have campaigned against party candidate Gadhilingappa in the November 30 by-elections, in which the party lost the deposit against Sriramulu. The BJP is also expected to issue whip to its suspended MLAs directing them to vote in favour of Gowda.The seat fell vacant following the resignation of sitting member N Shankarappa paving way for the CM to enter the Upper House which is mandatory for Gowda to continue in his office. Gowda is yet to vacate his Lok Sabha seat representing Udupi-Chickmagalur constituency.The Congress has reportedly decided to field its candidate after arriving at an electoral understanding with the JD(S) and the six independents, and eyeing possible cross-voting by BJP MLAs.The fact that unlike in the Rajya Sabha polls, the MLAs need not show their ballot papers to anybody before casting their votes has invoked fear in all parties, including BJP, Congress and JD(S), as the possibility of cross-voting can’t be ignored.While the Opposition parties are banking on possible fissures within the ruling party, another round of poaching of MLAs from the rival groups by the BJP under ‘Operation Lotus’ also can’t be ruled out.
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