Businessmen in fray: MLAs prefer Ramamurthy to Farook

 The attempt of JD(S) to again send a businessmen to the Rajya Sabha failed with its candidate B M Farook facing defeat in the elections held on Saturday.

Farook, a Mangaluru-based businessman, secured the least number of votes among the five candidates who were in the fray for the four seats. Rebellion in the party was one of the main reasons for the JD(S) biting the dust. As many as eight MLAs from the party openly voted in favour of the Congress, defying the whip. Rumours had it that more JD (S) MLAs were ready to vote for the Congress.

However, one businessman’s loss turned out to another’s gain. The Congress’ third candidate K C Ramamurthy, who emerged victorious by securing the highest number of votes, is into education business and runs CMR group of institutions. He is a former IPS officer. The JD(S) has always backed businessmen in the Rajya Sabha polls. Whether it was the late M A M Ramaswamy or Rajiv Chandrashekar or Vijay Mallya, these businessmen were elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka with the help of the JD(S). But, Farook was not lucky as them.

Farook was the richest candidate among all the five contestants. He had declared assets of Rs 750 crore. He is the CMO of Fiza Developers and Ifratech Pvt Ltd and owner of Mangaluru United Cricket team. He is the brother of the Congress MLA Mohiuddin Bava B A. The 63-year-old Ramamurthy was the second richest among the contestants according to the affidavit of assets and liabilities declared by the candidates along with their nomination papers. He had declared total assets of Rs 82.13 crore.

The ruling Congress made concerted efforts to ensure the victory of Ramamurthy, who was short of about a dozen votes. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had entrusted the responsibility of garnering the support of Independent MLAs in favour of Ramamurthy to to Energy Minister D K Shivakumar. The party had even shifted the Independent MLAs to Mumbai, fearing horse trading.

Speculation was rife that the Congress had stuck a deal with the BJP to ensure the election of Ramamurthy. Almost all the Independents and MLAs from smaller parties voted in favour of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha polls, while they supported the BJP in the Legislative Council elections on Friday.

Votes polled

Jairam Ramesh (Cong): 47
Oscar Fernandes (Cong): 46
K C Ramamurthy (Cong): 52
Niramala Sitharaman (BJP):  46
B M Farook (JD-S): 33
Total votes: 224