BJP Names Eranna Kadadi, Ashok Gasti As Candidates For Karnataka Rajya Sabha Polls, Stuns State Unit

BJP has fielded Eranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti as it's candidates for the June 19 Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka, ignoring the recommendations of the state BJP unit.

Election is scheduled on June 19 to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka.

Bengaluru: In what comes as an unprecedented move ahead of the much crucial Rajya Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday nominated Ashok Gasti and Iranna Kadadi as its candidate from Karnataka, ignoring the recommendations of its state unit. What is surprising is the fact that both Gasti and Kadi are not so known faces in the political landscape of the country. The state core committee had sent a list of three including hotelier Prakash Shetty, sitting Rajya Sabha MP Prabhakar Kore and Ramesh Katti, the brother of Umesh Katti. Election is scheduled on June 19 to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka, represented by Rajeev Gowda and B K Hariprasad of Congress, Prabhakar Kore of BJP and D Kupendra Reddy of JD(S) that will fall vacant on June 25, with their retirement. ALSO WATCH | Huge Jolt To Congress, Two MLAs Resign Ahead Of Gujarat RS Polls However, it is being said that nomination of Gasti and Kadadi by the central leadership of the saffron party came as a surprise even to the Karnataka BJP unit. This is seen as a big move by the BJP giving way to hardcore RSS supported candidates. Amid the reports of central unit finding an alternative to Yeddyurappa, the move by BJP could be touted as a strong message to all the camps in the state unit that the RSS still holds the power! Given the current development, this can surely not be denied. Ashok Gasti, an advocate by profession, is a senior BJP karyakarta from Savitha (Barber) community. He is a former general secretary of the BJP's OBC Cell and ex-chairperson of the Backward Class Development Corporation. Iranna Kadi is a lingayat face from Belagavi. Kadadi has also served as the district BJP president. He has unsuccessfully contested the assembly election from Arambhavi constituency in 1994 on a BJP ticket. BJP has not named third candidate, making an easy way for the Congress candidate Mallikarjun Kharge and JDS candidate HD Deve Gowda. Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda is standing out to be the best example of the quote - "Politicians don’t retire". At the age of 87, Gowda is all set to enter Parliament, yet again. ALSO WATCH | Voting For 18 Seats Of Rajya Sabha To Take Place On June 19 JDS has support of Congress as well. Sources indicate that it was Sonia Gandhi who wanted the former Prime Minister in the Parliament to take on the Modi government in Rajya Sabha. Gowda had lost from Tumakuru in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by a narrow margin of 13,000 votes. So far, Gowda has contested in 16 elections in which he won six time in Lok Sabha polls, seven times in Vidhan Sabha and has lost three times. He was in Rajya Sabha for two years when he served as the Prime Minister of the country in 1996. With 117 MLAs, the BJP can win two seats without any hurdle. Whereas, Congress with 67 would have at least 20 extra votes to support JDS candidate HD Deve Gowda, apart from voting its candidate Mallikarjun Kharge. JDS has 36 votes. Hence, Karnataka Rajya Sabha election for any candidate will not be a tough task.