Karnataka RS polls: JD (S) claims he voted for Congress, says it is because he loves it

BENGALURU: Karnataka JD(S) MLA K Srinivasa Gowda on Friday said that he voted for Congress in the polling for four Rajya Sabha seats.

"I have voted for Congress.. because I love it." Gowda said after voting.

Earlier in the day, Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Kumaraswamy alleged "horse-trading" in the Karnataka Rajya Sabha elections. He claimed that Congress leader Siddaramaiah was pressurizing JDS MLAs to not vote for their own party.

"Yes, definitely. He is pressurising them not to vote for JD(S)," Kumaraswamy told the media.

The former Karnataka chief minister also pointed out that Siddaramaiah had refuted allegations of writing an open letter to JDS MLAs requesting them to cast their "conscience vote" in favour of his party's candidate.

"Today, before local media he (Siddaramaiah) has said that he didn't write to my MLAs. He had even tweeted the letter from his social media account. Now, he's denying what he said yesterday. This shows his double standards," the JD(S) leader added.

Further, Kumaraswamy alleged that BJP general secretary CT Ravi was seen entering the Congress office in Karnataka. "CT Ravi is BJP general secretary, so how did he enter Congress office? This shows that CT Ravi went to meet Siddaramaiah for his cooperation in the victory of the BJP candidate," he said.

"We have confidence that we have 30-31 votes. JD(S) K Srinivasa Gowda has expressed that he will vote for Congress. Now, let us see," he added.
In Karnataka, JD(S) has fielded entrepreneur and social worker Kupendra Reddy as its first candidate in the Rajya Sabha election, while the Congress had fielded Mansoor Ali Khan as its second candidate to corner the JD(S) and its bid to send Kupendra Reddy to the Rajya Sabha.

Six candidates are in the fray for four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka.