JD(S) candidates to contest RS, Council polls

JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday said his party would field candidates for both Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Council elections.

He reiterated this though the party is facing differences within and is also lacking sufficient number of votes to win an RS seat on its own.

The party took this decision at its legislature party meeting. Kumaraswamy told reporters that the party would announce the names of the candidates on May 29. Of the 40 MLAs, 35 MLAs took part in the meeting held at a resort. Five rebels - Zameer Ahmed Khan, N Chaluvarayaswamy, H C Balakrishna, Akhanda Srinivasmurthy and Iqbal Ansari - did not attend.

While Khan and Ansari have announced that they would vote for the Congress in the RS polls, the three other MLAs are yet to express their stand. He said he was aware of Khan meeting Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.

Asked whether the party would field Danish Ali, the party’s national general secretary, as an RS poll candidate from the state, Kumaraswamy said Ali had sought a ticket. “However, there is a cry for fielding Kannadigas to Rajya Sabha,” he added. Ali is from Bihar.

Earlier in the day, Khan told the media that he and four other JD(S) MLAs will support the Congress candidate, former IPS officer K C Ramamurthy.

Danish Ali has openly demanded that the party announce him as the candidate, failing which he would go to the media.