Amidst the electoral fervor of Monday, the biennial elections for six coveted seats in the Karnataka Legislative Council, representing the teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies, are in full swing. A total of seventy-eight aspirants are vying for these positions, with the vote tallying slated for June 6.
In the 75-member Upper House, the Congress party boasts a strength of 29 legislators. The current elections are being conducted for the following constituencies: Karnataka North East Graduates, Karnataka South West Graduates, Bangalore Graduates, Karnataka South-East Teachers, Karnataka South-West Teachers, and Karnataka South Teachers.
These seats have been rendered vacant due to the retirement of six incumbent members. The graduates’ constituencies encompass an electorate of 3.63 lakh, while the teachers’ constituencies consist of 70,260 voters. The Election Commission has orchestrated 170 polling stations for the teachers’ constituencies and 461 for the graduates’ constituencies to facilitate the voting process.
The Congress party has nominated Marithibba Gowda for the South Teachers constituency, K K Manjunath for the South-West Teachers, Ayanur Manjunath for the South-West Graduates, Chandrashekhar Patil for the North-East Graduates, Ramoji Gowda for the Bangalore Graduates, and D T Srinivas for the South-East Teachers.
The BJP, in alliance with JD(S), is contesting these MLC elections collaboratively. The BJP has put forth candidates in four constituencies, while the JD(S) is contesting in two.
The BJP’s candidates include Amarnath Patil from the Karnataka North-East Graduates constituency, Dr. Dhananjay Sarji from the Karnataka South-West Graduates constituency, A Devegowda from the Bangalore Graduates’ constituency, and Y A Narayanaswamy from the South-East Teachers constituency.
Representing the JD(S) are K Vivekananda from the South Teachers constituency and Bhoje Gowda from the South-West Teachers constituency.