Karnataka CM Shivakumar ensures Dy CM Parameshwara's participation in election, says he will vote at 1 PM

Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday visited the residence of Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara in Bengaluru to enquire about his health.

Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday visited the residence of Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara in Bengaluru to enquire about his health. Speaking to ANI after the visit, CM Shivakumar assured that the Deputy CM has recovered and will be participating in the voting process later today.

"Dr Parameshwara is fine and healthy. He will come and vote at 1 PM. He is okay and has recovered," said CM DK Shivakumar. Following the Chief Minister's visit, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge also arrived at Dr Parameshwara's residence to check on his well-being.

Voting for 7 seats of the Karnataka Legislative Council began at 9 AM at Vidhana Soudha and will continue till 4 PM. Two polling booths have been set up inside the state secretariat to facilitate secret voting by MLAS.

CCTV cameras have been installed both inside and outside the polling room, and all arrangements for voting have been completed. Necessary police security has been deployed at Vidhana Soudha. Results will be announced this evening after voting concludes.

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. (ANI)