Bengaluru, March 10 (IANS) The Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Tuesday, announced the names of its candidates for the biennial elections to the Karnataka Legislative Council.

Senior BJP leader Shashil G. Namoshi has been nominated from the North East Teachers’ Constituency, S.V. Sankanur from the West Graduates’ Constituency, and K.M. Suresh, a close aide of former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, from the South East Graduates’ Constituency.

The announcement was made through an official statement issued by the BJP National General Secretary and Headquarters in-charge Arun Singh.

K.M. Suresh of Davanagere has been declared the BJP candidate for the South East Graduates’ Constituency.

Suresh is a close aide of former CM Yediyurappa and a former Chairman of the Harihar Urban Development Authority.

He is also a renowned educationist from Davanagere.

The South East Constituency of the Karnataka Legislative Council covers a significant geographical area across several districts.

The constituency includes the districts of Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, and Davanagere.

Davanagere taluk, Harihara taluk, and Jagalur taluk fall under the South East Constituency.

The South East Graduates’ constituency’s current MLC for Karnataka is R. Chowda Reddy Thoopalli, representing the JD-S.

The Karnataka North-East Teachers’ Constituency is an electoral district for the Karnataka Legislative Council covering all Assembly constituencies in the districts of Ballari, Bidar, Kalaburagi (Gulbarga), Koppal, Raichur, Vijayanagar, and Yadgir.

Shashil Gangadhar Namoshi has been representing the constituency since November 10, 2020. He is also the Chairman of the Hyderabad Karnataka Education Society.

The Karnataka West Graduates’ Constituency represents the districts of Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, and Uttara Kannada (Karwar). The seat is currently held by BJP leader S.V. Sankanur.

Retaining these seats will be a matter of prestige for the BJP.

The Karnataka Legislative Council is a permanent body with a total strength of 75 members.

It acts as the Upper House of the bicameral Legislature, with members serving six-year terms.

The Council consists of 64 elected members and 11 members nominated by the Governor.

The Congress has the strength of 37 members, BJP has 29 members and JD-S has seven members in the Karnataka Legislative Council.

One is Independent candidate and another seat remains vacant.

BJP member Basavaraj Horatti is the Chairperson in the State Legislative Council and the Congress has said that it would consider appointing its candidate in his place.

–IANS

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