Elections in Karnataka, a state in India, are conducted according to the Constitution of India. The Karnataka Legislative Assembly has the authority to create laws concerning local body elections independently. However, any changes to the conduct of state-level elections made by the state legislature must be approved by the Parliament of India. Additionally, under Article 356 of the Indian Constitution, the Parliament has the power to dismiss the state legislature and impose President’s rule in Karnataka.

Current Karnataka CM: Siddaramaiah(INC)

Leader of Opposition: R Ashoka (BJP)

Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha: Darshan Puttannaiah

Janata Dal (Secular): H D Kumaraswamy

Karnataka Rashtra Samiti Party: Ravi Krishna Reddy

The politics of Karnataka is primarily dominated by three major political parties: the Indian National Congress (INC), the Janata Dal (Secular) [JD(S)], and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A coalition government led by the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Indian National Congress was in power from May 2018 to July 2019, with H.D. Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) serving as Chief Minister from May 23, 2018, to July 23, 2019. As of May 20, 2023, Siddaramaiah of the INC is the current Chief Minister, heading the state government.

Karnataka Assembly:

The Karnataka Legislative Assembly, formerly known as the Mysore Legislative Assembly, is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of Karnataka, a southern Indian state. Karnataka is one of the six Indian states with a bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses: the Vidhan Sabha (lower house) and the Vidhan Parishad (upper house).

The Legislative Assembly comprises 224 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), who are directly elected by the people through adult franchise. Karnataka is divided into 224 constituencies, each electing one member to the Assembly. The elections follow the simple plurality or “first past the post” system and are conducted by the Election Commission of India.

The term of the members typically lasts for five years. In the event of a member’s death, resignation, or disqualification, a by-election is held in the affected constituency. The party or coalition with the majority of seats forms the ruling government.

Lok Sabha:

Vidhan Sabha:

History

The Mysore Representative Assembly, established in 1881 by Maharaja Chamaraja Wadiyar X, was the first of its kind in princely India. It served as the Kingdom’s sole legislature until 1907 when the Mysore Legislative Council was formed as an upper house, making the Assembly the lower house.

Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar dissolved the representative and legislative assemblies on December 16, 1949. A constituent assembly, formed in 1947, acted as the provisional assembly until elections were held in 1952.

The first session of the newly-formed Mysore Legislative Assembly under the Indian Constitution was held on June 18, 1952, in Bangalore with 99 elected members and one nominated member. The first Speaker was H. Siddaiah, who won against socialist leader Shantaveri Gopalagowda.

With the creation of Andhra state in 1953, parts of Bellary district were added to Mysore, increasing the Assembly’s strength. After the reorganization of states on November 1, 1956, the new Mysore state was formed, later renamed Karnataka in 1973. The Assembly’s strength grew from 208 in 1957 to 224 members plus one nominated member by 1978.

K. S. Nagarathanamma was the only woman to have served as Speaker, holding the position from March 24, 1972, to March 3, 1978.

The Budget and Monsoon Sessions of the Legislature are held in Vidhana Soudha, Bengaluru, while the Winter Session is held in Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, Belagavi.

Here are some political parties in Karnataka:

. Indian National Congress Party, Karnataka

· Badavara Shramikara Raitara Congress

· Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party

· Bharatiya Janata Party, Karnataka

· Codava National Council

· Karnataka Rashtra Samithi

· Janata Dal (Secular)

· Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha

· Kannada Nadu Party

· Karnataka Janata Paksha

· Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee

· Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party

· Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti

· Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha

· Urs Samyuktha Paksha

· Uttama Prajaakeeya Party

Political Crises:

On 1 July, two INC members, Ramesh Jarkiholi and Anand Singh, resigned, followed by ten more INC and three JD(S) legislators over the next few days. The coalition government tried to persuade these legislators to withdraw their resignations, even offering cabinet posts by having all 21 INC ministers resign on 8 July to free up ministerial positions. Additionally, they urged the speaker to disqualify the resigning legislators under anti-defection laws.

Speaker K. R. Ramesh Kumar did not immediately accept the resignations, citing a constitutional duty to scrutinize them. Some legislators then approached the Supreme Court, which agreed on 12 July to hear the case on 16 July and instructed the speaker not to disqualify any lawmakers in the meantime.

During the hearing, the legislators’ counsel, Mukul Rohatgi, argued that the speaker should prioritize deciding on the resignations before considering disqualification. Rajeev Dhavan, representing the Karnataka Chief Minister, contended that the speaker should rule on disqualifications first since the legislators never met him. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi noted the need to balance preventing resignation as a way to bypass anti-defection measures against using defection claims to block resignations, while also considering the court’s authority to direct constitutional officeholders like the speaker.