Two separate byelections will be held on August 22 to fill three casual vacancies in the Legislative Council.
These vacancies have arisen following resignations of three Bharatiya Janata Party MLCs — G.H. Thippa Reddy, Shivaraj Sajjan and K. R. Mallikarjunappa — who contested the Assembly elections.
Of them, Mr. Reddy quit the seat after he was elected to the Assembly on the BJP ticket. However, the other two resigned even before the Assembly elections to avoid the provisions of disqualification as they were contesting on the ticket of the Karnataka Janata Paksha though they had been elected to the Council on the BJP ticket.
These bypolls will be held from the Dharwad, Chitradurga and Mysore Local Authorities’ Constituencies.
Instead of a full term of six years, the new members would get a term of only about three years.
According to a release by the Election Commission, two separate notifications for these bypolls (one for Chitradurga and Dharwad, and another for Mysore) will be issued on July 29. August 5 is the last date for filing nominations.
Political relevance
These byelections to the Upper House are expected to generate much political heat as this is an opportunity for the ruling Congress — which does not have a majority in the Council — to marginally increase its tally in the House though it is not possible to get majority even if it wins all the three seats.
In the 75-member Council, the Congress has only 17 seats. The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has a dominant presence with 39 members (excluding the Chairman), while the Janata Dal (S) has 12 members.
