By IANS,
Bangalore : The Congress Monday secured the support of the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) to get two of its candidates, former Maharashtra governor S.M. Krishna and mining magnate Anil Lad, elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka in the June 26 polls.
In return, the Congress will support two JD-S candidates in the state legislative council elections to be held the same day, the parties have confirmed.
Elections are due for four Rajya Sabha and seven council seats in Karnataka.
Congress has 80 members and the JD-S 28 in the 225-member legislative assembly, which makes up the electoral college to elect members to the upper house of parliament and the council. Each candidate needs 46 first preference votes to get elected.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with 110 of its own members and the support of six independents, has fielded two candidates for the Rajya Sabha – former Bihar governor Rama Jois and Prabhakar Kore, a leading educationist from north Karnataka.
Former union minister M.V. Rajashekaran is the Congress nominee for the legislative council. The BJP is fielding four candidates for the remaining four council seats.
All the candidates filed their nominations Monday, the last day.