Former Prime Minister of India and the leader of the Janata Dal-Secular party, HD Deve Gowda has given his nod to contest for the Rajya Sabha polls. At the age of 87, Deve Gowda is all set to make a return to the Parliament.
In the general elections of 2019, Deve Gowda lost from Tumkur with a narrow margin of 13,000 votes. Initially, when the Rajya Sabha seat was offered to him, he wasn’t interested as it was against his principles. Deve Gowda has repeatedly said that he would prefer to enter the parliament through direct elections. However, Gowda was in Rajya Sabha for two years when he became the Prime Minister in the year 1996. In the last 58 years, Gowda has contested 16 direct elections and has lost only thrice.
The Janata Dal-Secular MLAs were successful in convincing their leader to enter the Parliament even if it means to violate his own principle. The party has been in a grim situation following the debacle in General elections and the fall of their government. Congress party that has an excess vote of 16 has come forward to back Gowda. Congress is also sending Mallikarjun Kharge to Rajya Sabha who, like Gowda, lost the 2019 general elections.
Difference Of Opinion In Congress Party
As per the sources, the Indian National Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi is keen to have the stalwart leader in Rajya Sabha to oppose the Modi government. Apparently, Gandhi has offered her full support to the leader.
A total of four seats will be filled from the State of Karnataka. The ruling party BJP can easily secure two seats. Congress can secure on the seat. The JDS with their 34 MLAs would need 14 more votes to win a seat to the Rajya Sabha and the Congress has 16 excess votes. Each candidate is required to win a minimum of 48 first preference votes to secure the seat in Rajya Sabha.
On the other hand, as per the sources, the Siddaramaiah camp of the Congress party is unhappy with the party’s decision to back Gowda as they believe this would lead to the political rebirth of the JDS party which was fading away from the state politics.
Source: News18
