Voting was underway for six seats of the Legislative Council from graduates and teachers constituencies in Karnataka on Monday. The voting began at 8 a.m. and will continue till 4 p.m. The Congress is contesting all six seats, whereas the BJP has fielded candidates in four seats, and the JD(S) is contesting two seats.
The BJP and JD(S) are facing the elections together. A total of 78 contestants are participating in the polls across six constituencies. The Congress is making an all-out attempt to win all six seats to gain a majority in the Legislative Council, also known as the Upper House in Karnataka.
From the Karnataka North-East Graduates seat, Dr Chandrashekar Patil is representing the Congress, while Amarnath Patil is the BJP candidate. In the Karnataka South West Graduates Constituency, senior leader Ayanur Manjunath, who joined the Congress ahead of the Assembly election, is the candidate of the grand old party.
Dr Dhananjaya Sarji from the BJP is competing against him. Ramojigowda is the Congress candidate for the Bengaluru Graduates Constituency, and the BJP has fielded A. Deve Gowda. The BJP has fielded senior leader Y.A. Narayanaswamy as its candidate in the South East Teachers' Constituency, with D.T. Srinivas representing the Congress.
S.L. Bhoje Gowda is the JD(S) candidate, and K.K. Manjunath is the Congress candidate in the Karnataka South West Teachers' Constituency. In the Karnataka South Teachers' Constituency, the Congress has pitched former JD(S) leader Maritibbegowda as its candidate, while K. Vivekananda is the JD(S) candidate.
The votes will be counted on June 6. These seats became vacant following the retirement of six sitting members. The three graduates' constituencies have a total of 3.63 lakh voters, and the rest three teachers' constituencies have 70,260 voters.
The polling is being held in 461 polling stations in graduates' constituencies and 170 polling stations in teachers' constituencies.
(With inputs from IANS)
