Karnataka Rajya Sabha, Legislative Council polls scheduled for June 18

The Election Commission has notified elections to four Rajya Sabha seats and seven Karnataka Legislative Council seats, with polling on June 18. The ruling Congress is expected to secure three Rajya Sabha seats and five Council seats based on its Assembly strength

Bengaluru: The notification for elections to four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka and seven Legislative Council seats in the state was issued on Monday, with voting scheduled for June 18.

Members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly will cast their votes in these elections at the Vidhana Soudha. The Rajya Sabha polls are being held as the terms of Iranna Kadadi and Narayana Koragappa (both from the BJP), Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress, and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda of the JD(S) are set to end on June 25.

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The Legislative Council elections are being conducted as the terms of seven MLCs elected by MLAs are due to expire on June 30. The members are Congress leaders Govinda Raju, Naseer Ahmed, Tippannappa, and B K Hariprasad, and BJP leaders N Nagaraju (MTB), Prathap Simha Nayak K, and Sunil Vallyapur. The last date for filing nominations is June 8, while scrutiny of nomination papers will take place the following day.

The last date for withdrawal of candidatures is June 11. Counting of votes will take place on June 18 after polling concludes. The ruling Congress, with its current strength in the Assembly, is expected to win three of the four Rajya Sabha seats and five of the seven MLC seats that are going to the polls.

It remains to be seen whether the BJP-JD(S) alliance will field common candidates in these elections.