<p>Senior JD(S) MLC Basavaraj Horatti and Congress MLC Naseer Ahmed filed their nominations for the Karnataka Legislative Council chairperson’s post on Monday.</p>.<p>The elections will be held on Tuesday. It was necessitated after chairperson Prathapchandra Shetty stepped down from the post, following a no-confidence motion moved against him by BJP, which was backed by the JD(S) leaders in the Upper House.</p>.<p>At present, the BJP has a strength of 33 MLCs, JD(S) has 13 and Congress 28. </p>.<p>As the combined strength of BJP and JD(S) amounts to a majority in the 75-member House, Horatti is likely to be elected as the next chairperson.</p>.<p>After filing his nomination, Horatti said, “I have filed my nomination with the support of BJP,” adding that the “Congress was free to nominate its candidate.”</p>.<p>Since Shetty resigned owing to the no-confidence motion against him and a lack of majority, the Congress nominating Naseer Ahmed came as a surprise.</p>.<p>Ahmed told media persons after filing his nomination, “I have filed my nomination paper as per the decision of the party leaders. The JD(S) has, from the beginning, claimed to be a secular party. Now, the party has to decide whether they want to stand with a secular party or to support the communal BJP. None of the three parties has a clear majority. We will wait until the end.” </p>.<p>In a similar situation recently, the Congress party had fielded its MLC K C Kondaiah for the deputy chairperson’s post. With the BJP-JD(S) alliance in the Council, BJP’s M K Pranesh was elected as the deputy chairperson. </p>.<p>Previously in 2018, Shetty was elected as the chairperson with the support of JD(S), during the Congress-JD(S) coalition regime.</p>
<p>Senior JD(S) MLC Basavaraj Horatti and Congress MLC Naseer Ahmed filed their nominations for the Karnataka Legislative Council chairperson’s post on Monday.</p>.<p>The elections will be held on Tuesday. It was necessitated after chairperson Prathapchandra Shetty stepped down from the post, following a no-confidence motion moved against him by BJP, which was backed by the JD(S) leaders in the Upper House.</p>.<p>At present, the BJP has a strength of 33 MLCs, JD(S) has 13 and Congress 28. </p>.<p>As the combined strength of BJP and JD(S) amounts to a majority in the 75-member House, Horatti is likely to be elected as the next chairperson.</p>.<p>After filing his nomination, Horatti said, “I have filed my nomination with the support of BJP,” adding that the “Congress was free to nominate its candidate.”</p>.<p>Since Shetty resigned owing to the no-confidence motion against him and a lack of majority, the Congress nominating Naseer Ahmed came as a surprise.</p>.<p>Ahmed told media persons after filing his nomination, “I have filed my nomination paper as per the decision of the party leaders. The JD(S) has, from the beginning, claimed to be a secular party. Now, the party has to decide whether they want to stand with a secular party or to support the communal BJP. None of the three parties has a clear majority. We will wait until the end.” </p>.<p>In a similar situation recently, the Congress party had fielded its MLC K C Kondaiah for the deputy chairperson’s post. With the BJP-JD(S) alliance in the Council, BJP’s M K Pranesh was elected as the deputy chairperson. </p>.<p>Previously in 2018, Shetty was elected as the chairperson with the support of JD(S), during the Congress-JD(S) coalition regime.</p>
