Voting for Karnataka Legislative Council polls begins

Polling for seven seats in the Karnataka Legislative Council began in the Vidhan Soudha in Bengaluru on June 18.

The ruling Congress, which has 37 members in the 75-member Upper House, is expected to achieve a majority with victory assured in four seats. Of the 37 Congress members, the tenure of three has come to an end, which will bring down the number of the party’s MLCs to 34.

The Congress has nominated five candidates in this election. If it manages to win all five seats, its tally will go to 39.

Of the seven seats, the Congress and the BJP are expected to comfortably win four and two seats, respectively. Congress’s candidates KPCC president B.K. Hariprasad, Tippanna Kamakanoor, P.V. Mohan and B.S. Shivanna, and the BJP’s candidates Lingaraj Patil and Raghu Kautilya are expected to sail through comfortably.

The Congress is in a battle with the JD(S) for the seventh seat in which Vinay Karthik is pitted against Govindaraju, who is the richest candidate in the fray.

The voting is through secret ballot. Voters are members of the Assembly, the lower house. A candidate requires a minimum of 28 votes to win. In many cases, parties allotting extra votes to each candidate as a precaution in case of a vote is termed invalid, or legislators refrain from voting, or do not turn up for the election.

In the 224-member Lower House, the current strength is 222 after the disqualification of Vinay Kulkarni and the demise of former Minister D. Sudhakar.

The Congress has 135 members and has the support of two Independents, one member of the Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha, and two members expelled by the BJP — S.T. Somashekar and Shivaram Hebbar.

The BJP has 63 members, including G. Janardhan Reddy, while its ally, the JD(S), has 18 members. But, senior MLA G.T. Deve Gowda has distanced himself from the party leadership. The party is not counting on him. The JD(S) is counting on the vote of Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda R. Patil Yatnal, who was expelled by the BJP.

“Since voting is by secret ballot, it would not be known who has voted for whom. Despite parties issuing a whip, legislators could either absent themselves or makes their votes invalid,” sources said.

Bengaluru police imposed prohibitory orders within a one-kilometre radius of Vidhana Soudha on June 18 under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to ensure law and order, security, and the smooth conduct of the MLC electoral process scheduled.

Entry will be allowed only on the basis of valid passes. Access has been restricted to members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), members of the Legislative Council (MLCs), members of Parliament (MPs), and authorised officials and staff working in Vidhana Soudha. Polling and counting agents carrying valid authorisation will also be allowed inside.