RS polls: Battle in Karnataka begins for the 4th seat

On Friday, voting in the Rajya Sabha elections for four seats in Karnataka began, with the fourth seat, for which all three political parties are running despite none having enough votes to win, being the most interesting.

Members of the Legislative Assembly are eligible to vote in this election.

The polls will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the ballots being counted after the polls close at 5 p.m.

Six candidates are running in the state’s Rajya Sabha elections, requiring a fight for the fourth seat.

Despite not having enough votes to win the state assembly’s fourth seat, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress, and the Janata Dal-Secular have all fielded candidates, necessitating a vote.

Six candidates from the state are running for the Rajya Sabha: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor-politician Jaggesh, and outgoing MLC Lehar Singh Siroya from the BJP, former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh and state general secretary Mansoor Ali Khan from the Congress, and former MP D Kupendra Reddy from the JD (S).

Sitharaman and Ramesh, both from the state, are running for re-election to the Upper House of Parliament for a second term.

A candidate needs the support of 45 MLAs to win, and based on their legislative authority, the BJP can win two seats and the Congress one.

After electing two Rajya Sabha candidates (Sitharaman and Jaggesh) on its own strength in the assembly, the BJP will be left with 32 MLA votes.

The Congress will have 25 MLA votes when Jairam Ramesh is elected, while the JD-S would have just 32 MLA votes, which will not be enough to win a seat.

Siroya (BJP), Khan (Congress), and Reddy will compete straight for the fourth seat (JDS).

Khan will require the support of 20 MLAs, while Siroya and Reddy would each need the support of 13 MLAs.