Karnataka MLC polls on Friday, 90 candidates in the fray
Bengaluru, Dec 9: Voting for biennial election to the Karnataka Legislative Council's 25 seats from 20 Local Authorities' Constituencies will take place on Friday, for which 90 candidates are in the fray.
The polling will be held between 8 am to 4 pm, the results of which will be declared on December 14.
Out of total 90 candidates in the fray, twenty each are from BJP and Congress, six from JD(S), 33 independents and rest are all from smaller parties.
Among the candidates, there is only one woman from Chikmagalur.
According to the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, there are 6,072 polling stations, and 23,065 polling officials including micro observers, have been deployed for poll duty.
The electorate for this election comprises elected members of urban and rural local bodies, and unlike legislative assembly or Lok Sabha polls, council contests are decided by preferential votes.
The election is necessitated as the term of 25 incumbent MLCs 14 Congress, seven BJP and four JD(S) will end on January 5 next year.
The poll outcome will have a bearing on the power equation in the 75-member Upper House, where the ruling BJP wants to gain a majority.
Both BJP and Congress have claimed that they will win maximum seats in this election, while JD(S) has expressed confidence about winning all the six seats it is contesting.
With the aim to get a majority in the Council, State BJP strongman and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had openly sought JD(S)' support for BJP candidates in the seats where the regional party is not contesting.
However, amid buzz about a possible pact with the ruling BJP, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy recently said that local leaders have been authorised to take a decision on whom to support in the seats where his party is not contesting, keeping in mind the prospects for the 2023 assembly election.
The JD(S) has fielded only six candidates, while the BJP and Congress are contesting in 20 seats each.
Interestingly, M K Pranesh, who is Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council, Leader of the House and Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary, and the ruling side's chief whip Mahantesh Kavatagimath are seeking re-election in this election from Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada and Belagavi seats respectively on a BJP ticket.
The candidates in the fray from all the parties in this election had sparked a "nepotism debate", as several candidates are close relatives of senior leaders from their respective parties.
The polls will also see one more member of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda family entering electoral politics, with his grandson Suraj Revanna being fielded as JD(S) candidate from Hassan.
Congress has fielded a multi billionaire candidate from Bangalore Urban, Yousuf Sharif who has declared assets belonging to him and his family worth over Rs 1,744 crore.
The elections is being held for two seats each from the local authorities constituencies of Bijapur, Belgaum, Dharwad, Dakshina Kannada and Mysuru; and one each from Bidar, Gulbarga, Uttara Kannada, Raichur, Bellary, Chitradurga, Shivamogga, Chikmagalur, Hassan, Tumakuru, Mandya, Bangalore, Bangalore Rural, Kolar and Kodagu.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
