Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, May 25: The terms of 16 members of the state legislative council will come to an end during May and June this year. All the three parties, the Congress, the JD(S) and the BJP, are expected to be in action in the election unless an understanding is reached between the Congress and the JD(S) for a joint fight.
Out of the above 16 seats, five are nominated members, seven get elected from the state assembly, while four are to be elected from teachers and graduates constituencies.
L to R: Yogeshwar, Vijayendra, Nagaraj
It is said that the BJP may make C P Yogeshwar, H Vishwanath, M T B Nagaraj and R Shankar as legislative council members. They had contributed immensely in enabling BJP to snatch power in the state from the Congress - JD(S) combine. At the same time, behind-the-scene efforts to back candidatures of Yediyurappa's second son, Vijayendra, former MLC, Go Madhusudan, and Nirmal Kumar Surana, are reportedly going on as these three are very much interested to enter the council.
H Vishwanath, who faced shocking defeat after joining the BJP, MTB Nagaraj and R Shankar are almost certain to get nominated as Yediyurappa has promised them to make council members. They, at the same time, might prove to be the stumbling block for the elevation of former minster, C P Yogeshwar, who has been waiting in the wings since long. Both Madhusudan and Surana are identified with Nalin Kumar Kateel's group. At the same time, BJP leaders are aware that Yogeshwar can match the powers of D K Shivakumar and H D Kumaraswamy in Ramanagara and Mandya regions, he being a Vokkaliga leader well versed with those districts.
In spite of being eligible in his own rights, many in the BJP suspect that C P Yogeshwar may have to sacrifice the candidature this time. He had been elected five times as MLA from Channapatna here. He had fought election on BJP ticket twice, and was elected once and become forest minister. In the last election, he was defeated by H D Kumaraswamy.
Meanwhile, sources said that there is a possibility that the council election may get postponed by two months over the coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown.