Shivakumar, who is hosting eight first-time Congress MLAs from Odisha at a private resort in Bidadi near Bengaluru, accused the BJP of trying to poach legislators to ensure the victory of its third candidate.
Congress, along with BJD and CPI(M) as part of the INDI bloc, is backing the candidature of veteran urologist Dr Datteswar Hota for the fourth seat.
The Election Commission is conducting polls for four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha, but the contest has intensified with five candidates in the fray, raising concerns within the Opposition camp. In the 147-member Odisha Assembly, a candidate requires 30 votes to secure a win.
While the ruling BJP has fielded three candidates, the Congress has nominated one candidate and backed Dr Hota for the fourth seat.
The Odisha MLAs staying in Bengaluru are accompanied by state Congress president Bhakt Charan Das and AICC secretary Mayur Jaikumar.
The Congress-BJD combine is confident of securing the fourth seat with support from BJD’s 18 votes, Congress’ 14 votes and CPI(M)’s one vote. Sources, however, said the BJD leadership remains cautious, with party chief Naveen Patnaik reportedly asking MLAs to meet him daily to prevent any cross-voting.Shivakumar, who is also Karnataka’s Dy CM, said insulating party MLAs from the influence of rival parties was not new to him.
“They said they wanted to come to Bengaluru because it is safe. It is our duty to take care of them. I have done this on many occasions, including during Ahmed Patel’s election,” Shivakumar told the media.
In August 2017, Shivakumar made national headlines after hosting a group of Gujarat Congress MLAs at a Bengaluru resort ahead of the Rajya Sabha election in which senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel was a candidate. While he successfully managed the operation to prevent crossvoting, the episode was followed by a series of income tax raids against him.
