Congress may send PC from State to RS

There was speculation in political circles that the Congress may provide Rajya Sabha nomination to Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram from the State.

Chidambaram has opted out of the Lok Sabha elections, nominating his son Karti Chidambaram from his constituency Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu.

Four Rajya Sabha members from Karnataka, including former chief minister S M Krishna, will be retiring on June 25.

The Congress with its present strength in the Assembly can elect two members to the Rajya Sabha.

For the third seat, the party will be left short of 27 seats for which it is planning to seek the support of the JD(S), party sources said. As many as 46 Assembly members are required to elect a Rajya Sabha member.

Besides Chidambaram, the Congress is said to have decided to renominate Krishna and B K Hariprasad.

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said he had not received any proposal from the Congress seeking its support for the Rajya Sabha elections.

“We have 40 MLAs, and the Congress has surplus votes. It is our candidate who should be in fray with the support of surplus votes of the Congress,” Kumaraswamy said.