Why a lone MLC seat bypoll is significant for political parties in Karnataka

The Congress has fielded four-time MLC Puttanna for the Bangalore Teachers Constituency. The NDA — the BJP and the JD(S) in Karnataka — have fielded AP Ranganath from the same seat.

In the existing Legislative Council, the NDA has the majority with 44 seats — the BJP has 36 and the JD(S) eight — while the Congress has 28 seats.

Importantly, as many as 19 MLCs’ tenures will conclude by the end of this year. Among them, 17 MLCs’ tenures will end in June itself.

These seats are all likely to hold significance in the state’s political landscape as they provide an opportunity for the ruling party to gain a clear majority in the upper House as well.

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Bangalore Teachers’ seat

The teachers who have registered their names in the electoral rolls are eligible to cast their vote in the bypoll of the Bangalore Teachers’ constituency. There are 14,432 voters in the constituency.

The polling will kick off at 8 am and conclude at 4 pm. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials have set up 43 polling booths for the election. The counting has been scheduled for 20 February.

The term of the winning candidate will conclude on 11 November, 2026.

Congress nominee Puttanna, who contested unsuccessfully from Bengaluru City’s Rajajinagar Assembly seat in the 2023 Karnataka polls, and NDA representative AP Ranganath, who is heading the JD(S)’s legal cell, filed their nominations on 29 January.

Expressing confidence in winning the polls, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters: “Puttanna resigned from the same seat to contest the Assembly polls. He is contesting the fifth time from the same constituency.”

He added: “In the previous polls, he defeated both the BJP and the JD(S) in the Council elections from the same seat. He managed to win the hearts of the voters and thus won four consecutive times from the Bangalore Teachers constituency. We are confident that he will emerge victorious in the by-polls as well.”

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Current numbers in the Council

Currently, the Congress has 28 seats, the BJP has 36 seats, the JD(S) has eight seats, and there is one independent member in the 75-member Legislative Council. Two seats are vacant.

Thus, the NDA coalition — the BJP and the JD(S) in Karnataka — has more numbers than the ruling party in the Upper House.

The Council is a permanent body of 75 members. Of the total members, 64 are filled following elections and the remaining 11 are nominated by the Governor of Karnataka. MLCs hold their office for six years.

Among the 25 MLC seats where representatives are elected by local authorities’ constituencies, the BJP and the Congress have 11 each, the JD(S) has two, and one is represented by an independent.

Another 25 MLCs are elected by the MLAs. At present, the BJP has 13 seats, the Congress has nine and the JD(S) holds three seats.

A total of seven members are elected from graduate constituencies. Among them, the BJP has four seats, the Congress has two, and one is vacant.

As many as seven MLCs are elected from teachers’ constituencies. Of the total seats, three are represented by the BJP, two by the JD(S), one by the Congress, while the remaining one is vacant.

Of the total 11 MLCs nominated by the Governor, the Congress holds six seats, the BJP has four seats, and the JD(S) has one seat.

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19 seats to remain vacant

The tenure of 18 MLCs, including 12 seats of the NDA alliance, will conclude by the end of this year in Karnataka, with 17 of them becoming vacant in June itself. One graduate’s constituency seat is currently already vacant.

A total of 11 members — elected by the MLAs — will finish their tenure on 17 June. Among them, six are from the BJP, four are from the Congress, and one is from the JD(S).

They are the BJP’s Tejaswini Gowda, Raghunath Rao Malkapure, KP Nanjundi, S Rudregowda, N Ravikumar, and P Muniraju Gowda, the Congress’ K Govindaraj, K Harishkumar, Aravind Kumar Arali, and Minister NS Boseraju — who is the leader of the Legislative Council — and the JD(S)’s BM Farooq.

As for graduate constituencies, two seats will become vacant on 21 June. One is represented by the Congress’ Karnataka North-East Graduates MLC Chandrashekar Patil, while the second is held by the BJP’s Bangalore Graduates MLC A Deve Gowda.

The tenure of three MLCs elected from the teachers’ constituency will also conclude on the same day. They are the JD(S)’s Karnataka South Teachers MLC Maritibee Gowda, South-West Teachers MLC SL Bhojegowda, and the BJP’s South-East MLC YA Narayanaswamy.

Similarly, the tenure of two Congress MLCs nominated by the Governor — Prakash Rathod and UB Venkatesh — will end on 29 October.

The tenure of all the 25 MLCs elected from local authorities’ constituencies will end only in January 2028.

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How important is the upcoming MLC election?

Though the Congress is at the helm in Karnataka, it does not have sufficient numbers in the Legislative Council to pass Bills without any hurdles.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president and chief whip Saleem Ahmed told South First: “All the upcoming MLC elections will hold great importance for the party and the government. At present, the Opposition has a majority in the house.”

He added: “When the ruling party does not have the majority, it affects the functioning, especially when passing the progressive Bills since the Opposition would use its strength to stall it. We will try to win the maximum number of seats to gain the majority in the House. We are confident that we will achieve it. If we get the majority, we can easily pass the Bills without any opposition.”

BJP leader and former MLC Arun Shahapur told South First: “The polls for most of the Legislative Council seats that fall vacant this year will be held only after the Lok Sabha elections. We believe that after the Parliament elections, there would be a political impact and polarisation.”

He added: “The Lok Sabha elections will definitely have an impact on these MLC polls. The NDA needs to maintain the majority in the Council. We are confident of winning most of the seats than the ruling party. If we have the majority in the council, we can decide the fate of the Bills. There are many other advantages as well.”