Shankar to get MLC ticket, leadership to decide about others: Ashwath Narayan 

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan has said the BJP will field former Minister R Shankar in the upcoming Legislative Council elections while the top leadership will take a call on other claimants.

As the Election Commission set in motion the process to elect seven MLCs on June 29, Narayan, who holds the portfolio of Higher Education and IT-BT, told reporters in Mandya on Friday that the former Rane Bennur MLA Shankar would definitely be given a ticket while the party leadership will decide about other aspirants.

M T B Nagaraj and A H Vishwanath are aspiring to become MLCs.

They were among the rebel Congress and the JD(S) MLAs who had resigned from the Assembly last year to bring down the coalition government and install the BJP government in the state.

Besides the three, C P Yogeeshwara, who lost the elections from Channapatna, is also an aspirant.

They had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly bypolls in December last year and now they want the BJP to oblige them with a membership to the Karnataka legislative council.

Narayan said Shankar, Nagaraj, Vishwanath and Yogeeshwara have put forth their demands before the top BJP leaders including Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who will shortly decide on it.

“Shortly it will be finalised by all the seniors, party president and the chief minister. They will be informed if there is scope,” he added.

To a question on Vishwanath and Nagaraj, Narayan said, “To tell you the truth, it is not a matter of assurance. Promise has been made only to Shankar whereas the others have requested that they be ”rehabilitated somewhere” since they have lost the election and opportunity be given to them.”

Shankar was not offered a ticket to contest the bypoll with an assurance by Yediyurappa that he would be made an MLC.

Meanwhile, Vishwanath responded by reminding the Deputy Chief Minister that the BJP came to power because of the sacrifice of rebel MLAs of Congress and the JD(S).

“Because of our sacrifice he became DCM. He should have explained with whose sacrifice he came to power,” Vishwanath told P T I.

The election is scheduled to take place on June 29 for which the notification has been issued and the last date of filing nomination is June 18.

Of the seven seats, BJP is set to win four, Congress two seats and the JD(S) one seat given the number of MLAs in the assembly, who elect the MLCs.

The ruling BJP has 116 members excluding Speaker, Congress has 68 and the JD(S) has 34 members in the assembly.