Bengaluru, 1 June

The notification for elections to four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka and seven Legislative Council seats in the State was issued on Monday, with voting scheduled for 18 June.

Members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly will cast their votes in these elections at the Vidhana Soudha.

The Rajya Sabha polls are being held as the terms of Iranna Kadadi and Narayana Koragappa (both from the BJP), Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress, and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda of the JD(S) are set to end on 25 June.

The Legislative Council elections are being conducted as the terms of seven MLCs elected by MLAs are due to expire on 30 June.

The members include Congress leaders Govinda Raju, Naseer Ahmed, Tippannappa, and BK Hariprasad, as well as BJP leaders N Nagaraju (MTB), Prathap Simha Nayak K, and Sunil Vallyapur.

The last date for filing nominations is 8 June, while scrutiny of nomination papers will take place the following day.

The last date for withdrawal of candidatures is 11 June. The counting of votes will take place on 18 June, following the conclusion of polling.

The ruling Congress, with its current strength in the Assembly, is expected to win three of the four Rajya Sabha seats and five of the seven MLC seats that are going to the polls.

It remains to be seen whether the BJP-JD(S) alliance will field common candidates in these elections.