The BJP central election committee that met in New Delhi on Friday finalised Ms Hema Malini’s candidature for the byelection to the Rajya Sabha, due next month, committee secretary and Bangalore South MP Ananth Kumar said. Ms Malini will have a tenure of one year. The election was necessitated after the death of JD(S) Rajya Sabha member M. Rajashekhar Murthy.
She pipped Karnataka’s representative in New Delhi V. Dhananjay Kumar to the post even though he was a strong contender. Sources in the party said that since the party decided to pick her as one of the star campaigners for the forthcoming Assembly elections in five states, including West Bengal, the party decided to reward her. “Keeping in view the role to be played by her in the forthcoming elections, the party has decided to accommodated her from Karnataka,” highly placed sources from New Delhi said.
Ms Malini has already served as Rajya Sabha member before.
The decision came as surprise for the party state unit. Party state unit president K.S. Eshwarappa, however, said, “Since the election is for a Rajya Sabha seat, the party central leadership need not wait for our recommendation and finalise a candidate,” he said.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports suggested that the renewed rivalry between chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar seems to have doomed the chances of Mr Dhananjay Kumar, who is close to Mr Yeddyurappa. A day before party national president Nitin Gadkari was set to arrive in the city to attend the chief minister’s 1,000th day in office, the decision was taken. By doing so, sources said, Mr Kumar ensured that Mr Yeddyurappa could not lobby for Mr Dhananjay Kumar with Mr Gadkari.