Venkaiah, Ayanur, Oscar, Mallya wins in Rajya Sabha poll

17.06.10 Bangalore : Business baron Vijay Mallya, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president M. Venkaiah Naidu and Congress general secretary Oscar Fernandes Thursday won the Rajya Sabha poll from Karnataka.

The BJP bagged a second seat when its nominee Ayanur Manjunath romped home.

Mallya, contesting as an independent backed by Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and the BJP, defeated the second Congress nominee, T.V. Maturhi, one of the biggest silk merchants in Karnataka.

The victory of Naidu, Manjunath and Fernandes was assured as the the BJP and the Congress had more than the required votes for an easy victory in the poll where assembly members made up the electoral college.

The battle for the fourth seat was between Mallya and Maruthi.

Mallya's victory became certain Wednesday with the BJP deciding to 'defeat the Congress'.

Naidu and Manjunath got 60 first preference votes each, 115 of the party and five independents supporting it. One BJP legislator, former minister H. Halappa, facing rape charges and in hospital, did not vote.

Fernandes got 50 first preference votes out of the 73 Congress members who cast their ballots. One Congress member did not vote as he was not well.

Mallya won with 27 votes of the JD-S, one independent and second preference votes of the BJP.

Naidu and Fernandes re-enter the Rajya Sabha without a break while Mallya makes it after a gap. He had become Rajya Sabha member for the first time in 2002 as an independent.

Manjunath was a Lok Sabha member for over a year earlier.