<p>Bengaluru: Biennial polls for seven MLC slots in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/search?q=karnataka">Karnataka </a>will be held on June 18, the Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday. </p><p>In a press statement, the ECI announced June 8 will be the last date to submit nominations, followed by the polling on June 18. The counting of votes will also be held on June 18.</p><p>All seven slots are elected by Karnataka MLAs. Of these seven seats, at present, three are held by the Congress (B K Hariprasad, Nasser Ahmed and Tippannappa), three by the BJP (MTB Nagaraj, Sunil Vallaypur and Prathap Simha Naik), and one from JD(S) — Govindaraju.</p><p>Each candidate will need 28 votes to emerge victorious. The Congress, which has 135 MLAs (137 reduced to 135 after Vinay Kulkarni was disqualified, and D Sudhakar passed away), is guaranteed to win four slots. The BJP and JD(S) together have 81 MLAs (63 for the BJP, 18 for the regional party), and they are guaranteed two seats. </p>.Karnataka power tussle | Debates, discussion on CM change irrelevant & unnecessary: Minister Eshwar Khandre.<p>The Congress is expected to win the 7th seat as well, since it has 23 votes, and is also likely to get the support of independents Darshan Puttanaiah, Latha Mallikarjun, K H Puttaswamy Gowda, ST Somashekar and Shivaram Hebbar (the latter two were expelled from the BJP), which exactly fetches the required 28 votes. </p><p>On the other hand, the BJP and JD(S) together have 21 MLAs. </p><p>In the 75-member Karnataka Council, there are currently 37 Congress MLCs, 29 BJP MLCs, 7 JD(S) MLCs, one independent (Lakhan Jarkiholi) and the chairman (Basavaraj Horatti). With the new elections, the Congress numbers will definitely rise to 38 (potentially 39, if Congress wins the 7th seat too). The NDA’s tally will fall to 36 or 35, depending on the outcome in the 7th seat.</p><p>Karnataka Assembly (total strength of 224 MLAs) currently has 222 MLAs (Excluding Vinay Kulkarni and D Sudhakar).</p><p><strong>The numbers game</strong></p><p>Congress - 135 MLAs </p><p>BJP and JD(S) - 81 (63+18)</p><p>Independents - 6 (5 likely to support Congress)</p><p>Votes needed for 1 MLC seat - 28</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Biennial polls for seven MLC slots in <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/search?q=karnataka">Karnataka </a>will be held on June 18, the Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday. </p><p>In a press statement, the ECI announced June 8 will be the last date to submit nominations, followed by the polling on June 18. The counting of votes will also be held on June 18.</p><p>All seven slots are elected by Karnataka MLAs. Of these seven seats, at present, three are held by the Congress (B K Hariprasad, Nasser Ahmed and Tippannappa), three by the BJP (MTB Nagaraj, Sunil Vallaypur and Prathap Simha Naik), and one from JD(S) — Govindaraju.</p><p>Each candidate will need 28 votes to emerge victorious. The Congress, which has 135 MLAs (137 reduced to 135 after Vinay Kulkarni was disqualified, and D Sudhakar passed away), is guaranteed to win four slots. The BJP and JD(S) together have 81 MLAs (63 for the BJP, 18 for the regional party), and they are guaranteed two seats. </p>.Karnataka power tussle | Debates, discussion on CM change irrelevant & unnecessary: Minister Eshwar Khandre.<p>The Congress is expected to win the 7th seat as well, since it has 23 votes, and is also likely to get the support of independents Darshan Puttanaiah, Latha Mallikarjun, K H Puttaswamy Gowda, ST Somashekar and Shivaram Hebbar (the latter two were expelled from the BJP), which exactly fetches the required 28 votes. </p><p>On the other hand, the BJP and JD(S) together have 21 MLAs. </p><p>In the 75-member Karnataka Council, there are currently 37 Congress MLCs, 29 BJP MLCs, 7 JD(S) MLCs, one independent (Lakhan Jarkiholi) and the chairman (Basavaraj Horatti). With the new elections, the Congress numbers will definitely rise to 38 (potentially 39, if Congress wins the 7th seat too). The NDA’s tally will fall to 36 or 35, depending on the outcome in the 7th seat.</p><p>Karnataka Assembly (total strength of 224 MLAs) currently has 222 MLAs (Excluding Vinay Kulkarni and D Sudhakar).</p><p><strong>The numbers game</strong></p><p>Congress - 135 MLAs </p><p>BJP and JD(S) - 81 (63+18)</p><p>Independents - 6 (5 likely to support Congress)</p><p>Votes needed for 1 MLC seat - 28</p>