BJP names Eranna Kadadi, Ashok Gasti as candidates for Karnataka Rajya Sabha polls

Notably, the BJP high command ignored the recommendations of the Karnataka party unit and named Kadadi and Gasti, both of who reportedly belong to RSS background.

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New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday (June 8) named Eranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti as party candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka, which is scheduled to be held on June 19. 

Both Kadadi and Gasti come from an RSS background, said party sources. The names of the two candidates were announced in a party statement in Delhi.

Eranna Kadadi (54) started his active political career in 1989 and unsuccessfully contested the assembly election from Arambhavi constituency in 1994 on a BJP ticket. He had also served as the Belagavi district Panchayat president in 2010.

Ashok Gasti is a lawyer by profession and former general secretary of the BJP's OBC Cell. He is the former chairperson of the Backward Class Development Corporation.

However, this is in contrast with candidates names — Prabhakar Kore, Ramesh Katti and Prakash Shetty recommended by the Karnataka BJP unit. The core committee of Karnataka BJP unit had met on June 6 and finalised names of Kore, Katti and Shetty, to be recommended to the party High Command for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections for the state. 

The election is scheduled on June 19 to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka, represented by Rajeev Gowda and BK Hariprasad of Congress, Prabhakar Kore of BJP and D Kupendra Reddy of JD(S) that will fall vacant on June 25, with their retirement.

For a member to be elected to the Rajya Sabha seat of Karnataka, they would require 44 votes.

June 9 is the last date for filing nominations.

Meanwhile, Congress has already announced veteran party leader Mallikarjuna Kharge as its candidate. Former Prime Minister and JDS patriarch Deve Gowda will also be contesting the elections. JDS has 34 MLAs in the state and would require 10 additional votes to get its candidate elected.

Of the four Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka, BJP is eyeing victory on two seats, while Congress and JDS is likely to battle it out for the remaining two.