By IANS,
Bangalore : Janata Dal-Secular headed by former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda Tuesday helped Congress bag the post of chairperson of the Karnataka legislative council dashing ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s hopes of having its nominee elected.
In the 75-member house with five seats vacant, BJP has 23 members, Congress 29, JDS 13, Janata Dal (United) 2, and Independents 2. The acting chairperson also belongs to JDS.
The Congress managed to secure the support of the 13 JDS members forcing BJP to withdraw its nominee Shashil Namoshi. Veeranna Mathikatti of Congress was elected without contest.
In return for the support, Congress has agreed to back the JDS nominee for the post of the deputy chairperson of the council.
Mathikatti, 60, was assembly member from 1978 to 1983.
There was uncertainty over JDS backing Congress till Monday night as the party had voted against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government in the July 22 trust vote in the Lok Sabha.
However, at a meeting of the JDS council members late Monday evening, Deve Gowda directed them to back the Congress nominee. “State politics is different from national politics,” Gowda’s son and former Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said defending the decision to back the Congress candidate.