Kerala, Karnataka to witness Assembly bye-polls
The recently concluded Lok Sabha elections saw many sitting Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) contest elections across states. While not all of them tasted electoral victory, the ones who became Members of Parliament (MP) will now have to vacate their Assembly constituencies, thus necessitating bye-elections there. Two seats in Kerala and three in Karnataka will soon have bye-elections. In Kerala, Palakkad’s Congress MLA Shafi Parambil contested the Lok Sabha election from Vadakara against another sitting MLA – CPI(M)’s Mattannur representative KK Shailaja. Shafi had won the Palakkad seat in 2021 in a tight contest against the BJP candidate ‘Metro man’ E Sreedharan. During counting, Sreedharan had maintained a steady lead in most of the 17 rounds, but as counting closed, Shafi managed to retain the seat by a margin of over 3,000 votes. The state is eagerly looking towards Palakkad to know who the parties will field from there in the bye-election.Another sitting MLA who has now become MP is CPI(M)’s K Radhakrishnan, who won against incumbent Congress MP Ramya Haridas from the Alathur LS constituency. The Assembly constituency he will be vacating is Chelakkara, which has only elected Left leaders to the Assembly for close to three decades. Radhakrishnan will also be vacating the chair of the state’s minister for Welfare of SC/ST and Devaswoms. Alathur, an SC-reserved constituency, is the only one that elected a candidate of the state’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) to the Lok Sabha.Kerala will also potentially witness a bye-election to the Lok Sabha from the Wayanad constituency, given that Rahul Gandhi was able to secure a second victory in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli. Even though Rahul himself has said that he is in a dilemma over which seat to retain and which to relinquish, Congress leaders have hinted that it will be the southern constituency that he will be giving up.Three bye-elections in KarnatakaThe two MLAs of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) vacating their seats in the Karnataka Assembly are also former chief ministers — JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy and BJP’s Basavaraj Bommai. Kumaraswamy, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mandya and appointed the Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries, will vacate the Channapatna Assembly seat that he has held since 2018. In 2023, Kumaraswamy had defeated BJP’s CP Yogeshwara by over 15,000 votes in Channapatna, which falls under the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency.Bommai won from the Haveri constituency against Congress’ Anandaswamy Gaddavaramath, who is the son of former MLA GS Gaddadeveramath. He will be vacating the Shiggaon Assembly seat, which he has held since 2008. In 2023, he won the seat by a margin of over 35,000 votes.The third Karnataka MP who will be vacating an Assembly seat is Congress’ E Tukaram, who won the Lok Sabha election from the Bellary constituency. Sandur, the Assembly seat that he will be vacating, falls under the Bellary district and has been represented in the Assembly by Tukaram since 2008. The recent election also saw a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) become an MP in Karnataka. The BJP leader, who was also the Leader of Opposition in the Council, secured a victory to the Lok Sabha from the Udupi Chikmagalur seat.
THE recently concluded Lok Sabha elections saw many sitting Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) contest elections across states.
While not all of them tasted electoral victory, the ones who became Members of Parliament (MP) will now have to vacate their Assembly constituencies, thus necessitating bye-elections there. Two seats in Kerala and three in Karnataka will soon have bye-elections.
In Kerala, Palakkad’s Congress MLA Shafi Parambil contested the Lok Sabha election from Vadakara against another sitting MLA – CPI(M)’s Mattannur representative KK Shailaja.
Shafi had won the Palakkad seat in 2021 in a tight contest against the BJP candidate ‘Metro man’ E Sreedharan. During counting, Sreedharan had maintained a steady lead in most of the 17 rounds, but as counting closed, Shafi managed to retain the seat by a margin of over 3,000 votes.
The state is eagerly looking towards Palakkad to know who the parties will field from there in the bye-election.
Another sitting MLA who has now become MP is CPI(M)’s K Radhakrishnan, who won against incumbent Congress MP Ramya Haridas from the Alathur LS constituency.
The Assembly constituency he will be vacating is Chelakkara, which has only elected Left leaders to the Assembly for close to three decades. Radhakrishnan will also be vacating the chair of the state’s minister for Welfare of SC/ST and Devaswoms. Alathur, an SC-reserved constituency, is the only one that elected a candidate of the state’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) to the Lok Sabha.
Kerala will also potentially witness a bye-election to the Lok Sabha from the Wayanad constituency, given that Rahul Gandhi was able to secure a second victory in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli. Even though Rahul himself has said that he is in a dilemma over which seat to retain and which to relinquish, Congress leaders have hinted that it will be the southern constituency that he will be giving up.
Three bye-elections in Karnataka
The two MLAs of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) vacating their seats in the Karnataka Assembly are also former chief ministers — JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy and BJP’s Basavaraj Bommai.
Kumaraswamy, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mandya and appointed the Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries, will vacate the Channapatna Assembly seat that he has held since 2018. In 2023, Kumaraswamy defeated BJP’s CP Yogeshwara by over 15,000 votes in Channapatna, which falls under the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency.
Bommai won from the Haveri constituency against Congress’ Anandaswamy Gaddavaramath, who is the son of former MLA GS Gaddadeveramath. He will be vacating the Shiggaon Assembly seat, which he has held since 2008. In 2023, he won the seat by a margin of over 35,000 votes.
The third Karnataka MP who will be vacating an Assembly seat is Congress’ E Tukaram, who won the Lok Sabha election from the Bellary constituency. Sandur, the Assembly seat that he will be vacating, falls under the Bellary district and has been represented in the Assembly by Tukaram since 2008.
The recent election also saw a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) become an MP in Karnataka. The BJP leader, who was also the Leader of Opposition in the Council, secured a victory to the Lok Sabha from the Udupi Chikmagalur seat.
