"Our two candidates will win:" Karnataka LoP R Ashoka on Karnataka Legislative Council (MLC) election

Karnataka Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka on Thursday expressed confidence regarding the upcoming Legislative Council elections, asserting that the BJP candidate will secure victory.

Karnataka Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka on Thursday expressed confidence regarding the upcoming Legislative Council elections, asserting that the BJP candidate will secure victory. Speaking to ANI, R Ashoka has ruled out any possibility of cross-voting among party MLAs.

"... Our two candidates will win, there is no doubt at all. We have good MLAs in our party; there is no cross-voting. We have to transfer the excess votes to the JDS... I called a meeting today and gave the whip," said R Ashoka. Meanwhile, the voting for the biennial elections to seven Legislative Council seats in Karnataka began earlier today, on June 18.

The polls were necessitated by the upcoming retirement of seven MLCs whose terms conclude on June 30. The outgoing members include Congress's Govindaraju, Naseer Ahmed, Thippannappa, and B.K. Hariprasad, as well as BJP's M.T.B. Nagaraju, Prathap Simha Nayak, and Sunil Vallyapur. In the 75-member Upper House, Congress currently has 37 seats, while the BJP has 29, while JD(S) has seven seats, followed by one Independent member, and the Chairman. Through these elections, the Congress aims to further bolster its tally in the Council.

Earlier, the Election Commission issued a notification for biennial elections for the 24 Rajya Sabha seats on June 1. The seats include four each in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three seats each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, two seats in Jharkhand, and one seat each in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya.

Notification was also issued for the Rajya Sabha bypoll for a seat each in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the scrutiny of nominations for these elections will be conducted by the concerned Returning Officers on June 9, 2026. The last date for the withdrawal of candidatures is June 11, 2026. For contested seats, polling will be held on June 18, 2026, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with the counting of votes scheduled for 5:00 PM the same day. (ANI)