Gowda Unlikely To Contest Bypolls

Sixty-six assembly constituencies in fifteen states will also go to the polls on the same day. The states where Assembly by-elections are due include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Tripura.

The three Lok Sabha seats fell vacant when former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, AB Vajpayee and former Orissa Chief Minister Biju Patnaik resigned after being elected from Nandyal, Gandhinagar and Cuttack respectively. Each of them had won from two constituencies.

An aide to Gowda ruled out his contesting any of the three seats. He was not very positive of the Prime Minister contesting the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka for which a by-election is to take place on September 28. Two vacancies in the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra will also be filled on the same day. The source said the Prime Minister might contest from a Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka and one of his party MPs might vacate a seat for him, probably in south Karnataka.

The Rajya Sabha election for the lone vacant seat from Karnataka would have been ideal for Gowda, given the fact that it is his party that rules the state.

However, the expulsion of his predecessor, RK Hedge, from the party after Gowda became the Prime Minister has led to discontent and dissidence in the Karnataka Janata Dal and Gowda would fear sabotage.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had invited Deve Gowda to contest from Nandyal soon after the latter became Prime Minister. But times have changed since then, with the Almatti dam dispute souring the relationship between Gowda and Naidu.

Biju Patnaik had also offered the Cuttack seat to the Prime Minister at the same meeting of senior leaders of the United Front. With factionalism at its peak in the Janata Dal, the Prime Minister is not likely to risk contesting from a state where he personally does not have a base. Gandhinagar is completely ruled out for the Prime Minister as it is a BJP stronghold and the Congress the major other force.

The Constitution requires ministers who are not members to become a member of Parliament within six months of taking office. Gowda has to become a Parliament member by December 1.