K'taka council polls: JD(S) issues whip

The Siddaramaiah faction of the Janata Dal(S), which has supported the candidature of Congress nominee V R Sudarshan for election to the Legislative Council from the Legislative Assembly segment, is in a spot.

The JD(S) legislature party has issued a whip to all its 58 legislators, including those 8 belonging to the Siddaramaiah faction, to vote in favour of the party candidates.

According to the anti-defection law, Siddaramaiah and seven of his supporting legislators, will face disqualification from the Assembly if they violate the whip.

Though all the eight legislators have been suspended from the party, technically they are still identified as JD(S) legislators since their expulsion is yet to be effected. The whip has made it difficult for the Siddaramaiah faction to vote for Sudarshan.

The elections for 11 vacancies will take place on June 1. There are 12 candidates in the fray. All the three parties JD(S), BJP and Congress have fielded four candidates each.

While BJP can easily win four vacancies, the JD(S) and the Congress can win three vacancies each. The fight for the eleventh vacancy is between JD(S) candidate Amarnath Shetty and Congress nominee Sudarshan.

The Siddaramaiah faction had planned to vote in favour of Sudarshan. Now with the JD(S) whip in force, the Siddaramaiah faction's plans have gone awry.