The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the schedule for elections to seven Karnataka Legislative Council seats, for which polling and counting will be held on June 29.
The ECI said in a statement that the seven seats would be vacant after the members retire on June 30.
After receiving inputs from the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer, the ECI decided that the election notification would be issued on Thursday. The last date for filing nominations is June 18 while the deadline for withdrawal is June 22. Polling will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 29. Votes will be counted at 5 p.m.
“Adequate measures for close monitoring by appointing observers shall be taken to ensure a free and fair election. The commission has also directed the Chief Secretary of the State to depute a senior officer to ensure that the extant instructions regarding COVID-19 containment measures are complied with while making arrangements for conducting the elections,” the ECI said.
The members set to retire are Naseer Ahmed, Jayamma, M.C. Venugopal, N.S. Bose Raju, H.M. Revanna, T.A. Sharavana, and D.U. Mallikarjuna. Five of the MLCs are of the Congress while one each are of the JD(S) and BJP.
Given its strength in the Legislative Assembly, the ruling BJP can ensure the victory of four candidates, while the Opposition Congress and JD(S) can ensure victory of two and one, respectively.
The BJP has 117 MLAs, including the Speaker, while the Congress has 68 members. The JD(S) has 34 MLAs.
