Karnataka MLC polls: Why a big win is important for Congress govt

The ruling Congress party in Karnataka is eyeing to win maximum seats in the upcoming Legislative Council polls scheduled to be held on June 3 and June 13. There are 17 seats up for grabs in these two elections.

The elections are crucial for the Congress as the party desperately needs to increase their strength in the Upper House of the legislature to enable the smooth passage of various bills.

Due to the lack of majority, the Congress had to face a lot of embarrassment when their amendments to the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment (Amendment) Bill 2024, were rejected in February this year by the Legislative Council.

Meanwhile, on June 3, elections will be held for three seats in the Teachers and Graduates constituencies. The government also gets an opportunity to nominate a few more members and fill the seat vacated by former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, after he quit Congress and returned to BJP in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar have left for New Delhi on May 28 to meet the party high command leaders and to finalise candidates for the June 13 Legislative Council polls.

Amid hectic lobbying for MLC tickets, a section of Congress leaders have urged Siddaramaiah through a petition to choose those who have been loyal to the party and the organisation. 

According to sources in the Congress, the petition has been signed by eight party leaders – Vijay Mulgund, V Shankar, B R Naidu, S Manohar, Abdul Wajid, A Kenche Gowda, V Aradhya and M Ramachandrappa IT – who happen to be ticket aspirants.

"Whenever elections are held for the Legislative Council, voices are raised to choose those who are loyal to the party. But, for obvious reasons, those picked by senior leaders and the high command get priority and opportunity. It is time for the party leaders to offer priority to loyal party workers," wrote the party leaders in the petition.

The petition also asked the party leaders, especially the chief minister, not to give tickets to those who have already served as MLCs, ministers and held other key government positions. One of the eight petitioners said that “selecting ordinary party workers and those who are involved in organisational activities will be a morale booster for those, who slogged for the party and played an important role in bringing the party to power".

According to sources in Congress, there are 120 aspirants, including former MLAs and MLCs for the seven seats. “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar don’t want to antagonise anyone either in the party or in the government at this crucial juncture and have left the decision of finalising candidates to the party high command," said a MLA close to Shivakumar.

Party sources told The Federal that the party is keen to offer tickets to two candidates from the Other Backward Castes (OBC) and give one ticket each to minorities, SC and ST and dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities.

Minor irrigation minister N S Bosaraju and Siddaramaiah's son, Yathindra Siddaramaiah are front runners for the OBC ticket. “Bosaraju has to continue as minister and Yathindra sacrificed his seat for his father Siddaramaiah, so it is inevitable to give tickets to both of them under OBC quota," said Congress sources.

Incumbent MLCs including K Govindaraj, K P Nanjundi, Tejaswini Gowda, KPCC working president Vasanth Kumar, former MPs – B L Shankar and V S Ugrappa – former MLC Ivan D’Souza, the former chairperson of Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, C S Dwarakanath; KPCC treasurer Vinay Karthik, S A Hussain, Siraj Sheik, Aga Sultan, Ismail Tamatagar and former minister S R Patil and Rani Satish are all prominent contenders for the MLC posts.

Sources in Congress disclosed that even before Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar reached Delhi, few prominent contenders were already camping in the national capital to impress upon the high command to give them tickets. According to a close aide of Mallikarjuna Kharge, the party high command may throw up surprises to keep the party and government intact in Karnataka, in the light of the threat by BJP and JD(S) to destablise the state government after Lok Sabha resutlts are announced on June 4.

As the ruling Congress lacks a majority in the Upper House, the upcoming election for 17 seats offers an opportunityfor the party to improve its position. Presently, the BJP is the single largest party in the Council with 32 members, while Congress and JD(S) have 29 and seven members respectively. Five seats are vacant, while one is an Independent member.

As the combined strength of BJP and JD(S) is more than the Congress, the ruling party failed to get the amendments to the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment (Amendment) Bill 2024 in the Legislative Council. After the Bill was defeated in the Council, it was however passed in the Legislative Assembly. Though the Bill was later passed in both houses, it turned out to be an uphill task for the ruling Congress.

According to legislature norms, if a Bill gets defeated in the Council, it can be presented in the Assembly again. But, if it is referred to a House Committee in the Council, it will take a long time to complete the process. This is the reason the Congress is fighting tooth and nail to get supremacy in the House.

It is significant that Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are the six states in the country to have a bicameral legislature system. Of the 75 Council members, 25 each are elected by members of the state Assembly and local bodies, seven each are from Graduates and Teachers’ constituencies and other 11 members are nominated by the government.