Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa had publicly promised R. Shankar, who was among the MLAs who defected to the BJP, that he will be made an MLC and then Minister after he was denied a ticket to contest the byelection to the Assembly.
Sources close to the Chief Minister said that now while the Council berth is assured, ministership may not be a cakewalk now.
More tricky is the case of two other defectors — N. Nagaraju (MTB) and A.H. Vishwanath — who contested the bypolls and lost. “The problem is all three belong to one community. Mr. Nagaraju stands a chance as he got defeated owing to internal issues of the BJP. While Mr. Vishwanath is also lobbying hard, there seems to be no inclination towards him,” said a source.
In Mysuru on Saturday, Minister for Cooperation S.T. Somashekhar, who was among those who defected to the BJP, said he was in favour Mr. Vishwanath, Mr. Nagaraju, and Mr. Shankar getting nominated to the Legislative Council whose elections are scheduled for June 5. “All of us who won the byelection on the BJP ticket were of the opinion that the trio should be made MLCs. In fact, we have told this to the Chief Minister on many occasions,” he told reporters here.
