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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Fake notes with 'movie shooting purpose only' written on them send police into tizzy in Sirsi
Sirsi (Karnataka), Apr 8 (PTI): The police in Uttar Kannada went into a tizzy on Tuesday after they found fake currency notes of Rs 500 denomination from a house in Dandeli with 'movie shooting purpose only' written on them.
Based on a tip-off, police searched a rented house at Gandhinagar in Dandeli and confiscated the fake currency notes along with a money counting machine.
Arshad Khan, who is said to be from Goa, was staying as a tenant in the house belonging to Noorjan Jhunjuwadkar, police said.
Police were informed after Jhunjuwadkar noticed that Khan was absent from the house for the past one month.
The fake currency notes had the inscription 'Reverse Bank of India' on them, but did not have the signature of the RBI governor, police said.
The notes were printed on a shining paper with only zeros written in the place of the number, and 'movie shooting purpose only' inscribed on them, police said.
A hunt is on to trace Khan to question him about the seizure, they added.
