MLC Polls: Key contenders and constituencies

Voting is in full swing on Monday for the biennial elections to six crucial seats in the Karnataka Legislative Council, representing teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies.

With a total of seventy-eight candidates participating, the results are eagerly awaited and will be declared on June 6.

Currently, the Congress holds 29 out of the 75 seats in the Upper House.

The elections are being conducted to fill seats in Karnataka North East Graduates, Karnataka South West Graduates, Bangalore Graduates, Karnataka South-East Teachers, Karnataka South-West Teachers, and Karnataka South Teachers constituencies, which became vacant after the retirement of six members.

The voting populace for the graduates’ constituencies stands at 3.63 lakh, while the teachers’ constituencies have 70,260 registered voters.

To facilitate the process, the Election Commission has established 170 polling stations for teachers’ constituencies and 461 for graduates’ constituencies.

The main candidates from Congress include Marithibba Gowda (South Teachers), K K Manjunath (South-West Teachers), Ayanur Manjunath (South-West Graduates), Chandrashekhar Patil (North-East Graduates), Ramoji Gowda (Bangalore Graduates), and D T Srinivas (South-East Teachers).

Meanwhile, the BJP and its ally JD(S) are contesting the elections together, with BJP fielding Amarnath Patil (Karnataka North-East Graduates), Dr Dhananjay Sarji (Karnataka South-West Graduates), A Devegowda (Bangalore Graduates), and Y A Narayanaswamy (South-East Teachers). JD(S) candidates include K Vivekananda (South Teachers) and Bhoje Gowda (South West Teachers).