Industrialists have always been the surprise elements in Rajya Sabha elections. This time, prominent business barons from Karnataka are changing political equations in not just their own state, but even in Bihar. Just as their business knows no boundary, their political clout and ambition, too, are easily crossing the borders of states.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya's entry in the contest for Rajya Sabha polls from Karnataka has already poured cold water on ties between former Prime Minister H D Devegowda-led Janata Dal Secular and Sonia Gandhi's Congress party. Now, three Congress MLAs in Bihar have come in the support of a businessman from Karnataka--B G Uday--without informing the party hierarchy. The Rajya Sabha polls will be held on June 17.
While chances for a second Congress candidate winning from Karnataka looks very bleak, the party has gone ahead and fielded T V Maruthi, one of the biggest businessmen in local silk trade, to take on Mallya or at least stop crossover of Congress votes to the other side.
Uday is the son of a former police commissioner of Bangalore. Congress insiders say he is distantly related to Bihar's gangster-turned politician Pappu Yadav. Top sources in the Karnataka Congress also told Business Standard that he is a partner in the Garuda Mall, Bangalore.
Another industrialist of Karnataka, Kupendra Reddy, was also in the fray till the last minute and Congress sources claim he was trying his luck from both the Congress and JD-S camps. Reddy owns huge tracts of land in and around Bangalore and is a known name in the construction field. He is also a partner in RGA Software System. His company website says, "Kupendra Reddy, the main promoter, has been in the field of land development in and around Bangalore over the past 30 years and has in-depth knowledge of the development activities going on and the acumen to identify potential areas for development."
But a section of the Congress raised strong objections about Reddy, who is believed to be earning more than Rs 15 crore per month just of rentals of office space. As the party searched for a heavyweight businessman to take on Mallya, it zeroed in on Maruthi. The Congress has already fielded its general secretary Oscar Fernandez as its first candidate in Karnataka Rajya Sabha polls.
"Our second candidate (Maruthi) may not win, but his participation is crucial because we need to ensure that none of our MLAs vote for other candidates," a Congress general secretary said today.
The Congress brass, already stung by Mallya's entry in Karnataka that jeopardised the prospects of its second candidate, was stunned to see three of its MLAs in Bihar seconding the name of Uday in Rajya Sabha polls from Bihar. The newly-appointed state unit chief Mehboob Ali Qaiser today told reporters, "all MLAs have been asked to abstain from voting in Rajya Sabha polls. Strong action will be taken against the MLAs if they violate the party order." But with Assembly polls round the corner, many MLAs might happily defy party orders and strike a deal with the new aspirant.
