Karnataka Rajya Sabha race heats up as Congress seeks seats, BJP snubs ex-PM Gowda

Congress leader Saleem Ahmed said the party is confident of winning all Karnataka Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council seats in the upcoming elections and hopes he will secure a cabinet post. The Congress has filed nominations for seven Rajya Sabha candidates, including Mallikarjun Kharge, and is targeting three of the four seats up for election on June 18.

The BJP announced professor M Nagaraja as its Karnataka Rajya Sabha candidate, bypassing former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, who had expected a nomination. The party’s decision drew sharp criticism from the Karnataka Congress, which called the move an insult to Gowda and to the people of the state. The four Rajya Sabha seats will be decided by members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, where Congress holds 135 of 224 seats, the BJP 62 and JD(S) 18.

The elections are part of a broader biennial schedule for 24 Rajya Sabha seats nationwide. Terms of the incumbent members, including Gowda, end on June 25.