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The Karnataka Legislative Assembly (KLA) is the lower chamber of Karnataka’s bicameral legislature. Karnataka is one of six Indian states having a bicameral legislature (two houses). The lower house is the Vidhan Sabha, while the upper house is the Vidhan Parishad. The Vidhana Sabha is elected directly by the people. The Vidhana Sabha, often known as the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, has 224 members. Karnataka is divided into 224 seats to elect members to the Legislative Assembly. Each constituency elects one assembly member. The Assembly is selected by a “first past the post” or “simple plurality” voting method. The Election Commission of India oversees the elections. The members’ terms of office are typically five years. When a member dies, resigns, or is disqualified, a by-election for the constituency represented by the member is held. The party or coalition with the most votes becomes the ruling party.
History of Parliament
The legislative assembly’s inaugural session was conducted on 18 June 1952 at the old public office building conference hall (now the high court building) in Bangalore.
The Maharaja of Mysore disbanded the representative and legislative assemblies on 16 December 1949. The constituent legislature of Mysore, which was formed in 1947, served as the interim Assembly until elections were conducted in 1952.
The first assembly established under the Constitution consisted of 99 members and one nominated Speaker. V. Venkatappa served as honorary Speaker of the state assembly’s inaugural session, administering oaths to members, including then-Chief Minister Kengal Hanumanthaiah. He held an election for Speaker between socialist politician Shantaveri Gopalagowda and H. Siddaiah, in which H. Siddaiah won with 74 votes, and the first chief minister of Karnataka state, Kengal Hanumanthaiah, delivered the address.
With the establishment of Andhra state in 1953, parts of Madras state’s Bellary district were transferred to Mysore state, increasing the Assembly’s membership by five members. On 1 November 1956, the state of Mysore was formed by the merger of three districts from the Hyderabad state, four districts from the former Bombay state, a district and taluk from the ancient Madras princely state Mysore, and the state of Coorg. In 1973, the state was renamed Karnataka. The newly constructed Vidhana Soudha hosted the inaugural session of the new legislature on 19 December 1956. The Assembly’s strength rose from 208 in 1957 to 216 in 1967 and 224 plus one nominated member in 1978.
K. S. Nagarathanamma served as the lone female Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly from 24 March 1972 until 3 March 1978. Vidhana Soudha, Bengaluru, hosts the Legislature’s Budget and Monsoon sessions. The legislature’s Winter Session is held in Suvarna Soudha, Belagavi.
Current Seat Distribution
The state elections in Karnataka were conducted on 12 May 2018. In a three-cornered fight between the current Congress, the BJP, and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda’s JD, voting was held in 222 of 224 seats (S).
The BJP emerged as the single largest party in the 2018 Assembly elections, garnering 104 seats but falling nine seats shy of a majority. The Congress (80 members) and the JD(S) (37 seats) quickly reached an accord. On the other hand, Governor Vajubhai Vala invited Yeddyurappa to be sworn in as chief minister. On 17 May 2018, Yeddyurappa was sworn in as chief minister. On May 19, Yeddyurappa abruptly resigned after failing to win a vote of confidence. There are 74 members in Karnataka’s Vidhana Parishad.
However, many resignations from dissident members opened the path for Kumarswamy’s administration in Karnataka to fall apart. On 26 July 2019, Yediyurappa was sworn in as Chief Minister. This is Yediyurappa’s fourth term as chief minister of Karnataka and second in the current Assembly.
Forthcoming Elections
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly term will finish on 24 May 2023. Following the recent assembly election, the state government was formed by a coalition of the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Indian National Congress, with H. D. Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister.
The coalition government fell in July 2019 when numerous INC and JD(S) members in the legislature resigned. The state government was then constituted by the Bharatiya Janata Party, with B. S. Yediyurappa as Chief Minister. Yediyurappa stepped down as Chief Minister on 26 July 2021, and Basavaraj Bommai was sworn in as the next Chief Minister on 28 July 2021.
Conclusion
Karnataka is a state in India’s southwestern area, bordering the Arabian Sea, Goa, Telangana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, in southeast Tamil Nadu and southwest Kerala. The state covers 191,791 square km (74,051 square miles), accounting for 5.83% of India’s total geographical area. According to the 2011 census, it is the tenth most populous state in population, with 61,130,704 inhabitants residing in 31 districts.
