Red faced JD (S) suspends eight MLAs for cross voting in RS elections

Karnataka: The Janata Dal (Secular) on Sunday suspended its eight MLAs over allegations of cross voting in the Rajya Sabha elections.   The JD (S) suffered a humiliating blow with eight of its MLAs cross voting in favour of the Congress.   Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress' Jairam Ramesh, Oscar Fernandes and K.C. Ramamurthy on Saturday won the Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka in the biennial elections.   In a loss of face, eight JD(S) MLAs defied the party whip voting against party candidate businessman B M Farooq and supported Congress. Farooq secured 33 votes against the party's strength of 40.   Out of the 58 seats that fell vacant in the Upper House this summer, the NDA has now won 23, improving upon the 18 seats it held earlier. The Congress, which held 15 of these seats, now has nine.