Former prime minister and Janata Dal (secular) supremo HD Deve Gowda is likely to file nomination for Rajya Sabha elections on June 9. The former PM has reportedly sought the support of Congress in securing his victory to reach the upper house of the Parliament.
"Many JDS MLAs asked Deve Gowda to contest and convinced him about the same. They felt that he's the best person to bring out Karnataka issues in Parliament," said a source close to Deve Gowda.
Congress congratulates the decision
Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi dialed Deve Gowda on Sunday and congratulated him on his decision to contest Rajya Sabha polls. The two had a brief conversation over the phone.
Four Rajyasabha seats from Karnataka goes to polls and last day of filing nomination is Tuesday. The present Rajya Sabha MP from JDS, Kupendra Reddy, will vacate his seat for 87-year-old Deve Gowda.
Both BJP and Congress have decided not to field any extra candidate, thus it is likely that Deve Gowda will get elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha.
Congress on Friday announced party veteran and former leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge for the assured seat that it can win from the southern state. Kharge lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election in which Congress could win just one seat in the state where it then ran a coalition government with JD(S).
The Karnataka government led by JD(S) later fell following large-scale resignations of Congress MLAs who joined BJP.
While it was said that JD(S) has not yet approached Congress, an insider said there have been informal talks on the issue.
