Oscar Fernandes files Rajya Sabha nomination papers

05.06.10 :Senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes Saturday filed his nomination papers for the June 17 Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from Karnataka and said a decision on whether to field one more candidate will be taken in two days.

"The party will decide whether to field one more candidate in the next two days as Monday is the last date for filing nominations," Fernandes told reporters after filing his papers.

The Congress can win only one of the four seats on its strength of 74 assembly members as a candidate requires 45 first preference votes to get elected.

Its efforts to get Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) help to get a second candidate elected have so far not succeeded. JD-S has 27 members in the 225-member assembly.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party with 122 votes, including six Independents supporting it, is assured of two seats. Its nominees, senior leader M. Venkaiah Naidu and state leader Ayanur Manjunath, have already filed their papers.

Fernandes declined to answer questions on whether his party had renewed efforts to win over the JD-S, which is opposed to renominating B.K. Hariprasad.

"The picture will be clear in two days," he maintained, though state Congress president R.V. Deshpande indicated the party had not completely given up hopes of getting JD-S support to bag the second seat.

The JD-S is upset with Hariprasad as he had reportedly criticized its president and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda on several occasions.

The Congress-JD-S talks on an understanding also failed as a section of Karnataka Congress leaders were stoutly opposed to it.

Congress Lok Sabha member from Mysore A.H. Vishwanath and the party's leader in the legislative council Motamma had openly criticized the efforts to reach an understanding with the JD-S.

Gowda's son and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who had held talks with Congress central leaders on an understanding, has said JD-S will decide its stand in a day or two.

With uncertainty over JD-S supporting a second Congress candidate, there is speculation that liquor baron and former Rajya Sabha member Vijay Mallya may enter the fray. He had won in 2002 as an Independent candidate from Karnataka.

Mallya is said to be wooing the JD-S to back him as he is confident that if he secures it, getting BJP also to vote for him will not be difficult. The BJP will have 32 surplus votes after ensuring victory of its two candidates.