Bengaluru: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and former minister S.T. Somashekar came under fire from his party men over his reported cross-voting in the biennial Rajya Sabha election held in Bengaluru on Tuesday and the Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka gave the confirmation on cross-voting, “We have definite information on cross-voting by Somashekar” and termed it “betrayal.” S.T. Somashekar represents Yeshwanthpur Assembly seat in Bengaluru city. In the Rajya Sabha fray for four seats, the Congress had fielded Ajay Maken, G.C. Chandrashekar and Naseer Hussain while the BJP fielded Narayana Bhandage and JDS nominee was Kupendra Reddy and voting was held in Vidhana Soudha. After voting, R. Ashoka told reporters that he had not expected “cross-voting’ from Somashekar while it was clear that Somashekar was hobnobbing with the president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and their camaraderie was going on for four months. Both Somashekar and another BJP MLA Shivaram Hebbar, MLA of Yellpura Assembly seat, were in constant touch with me for about a week and had assured they would not “betray” the party, said Ashoka and stated that whip was served to both from the party. On Somashekar, Ashoka said he quit the Congress party and joined in the BJP in 2019 and the party made him a Minister and also was made the district incharge of Minister of Mysuru, a prestigious district in the State and by “cross-voting”, he observed that Somashekar has committed “suicide” politically and ended his career. The voters of Yeshwanthpur Assembly seat would teach Somashekar a fitting lesson over his “betrayal” to BJP, said Ashoka and stated that he has asked his advocate Vivek Reddy to explore legal ways to initiate action against Somashekar. While former union minister and BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal termed reported “cross-voting” from Somashekar as “unfortunate” and stated that ‘Being a senior member, Somashekar should not have cross-voted.” In an oblique attack on former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and his son State BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra, Yatnal alleged Yediyurappa and Vijayendra failed to handle the Somashekar properly. He accused “adjustment” politics in BJP led to debacle of the party in the 2023 Assembly polls and pointed out at the defeat of its nominee V. Somanna in dual seats and questioned “Why didn’t BJP leaders conduct campaigning in Kanakapura Assembly seat (won by KPCC president and Congress nominee D.K. Shivakumar?” Former minister and BJP leader C.T. Ravi also called the “cross-voting” by Somasheker “unfortunate.” Meanwhile, BJP workers staged a protest in front of BJP Mandal Office in Yeshwanthpur against Somashekar over his “cross-voting.”
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