BENGALURU: The bypoll for the legislative council seat formerly held by the late deputy chairman SL Dharmegowda will take place on March 15, the Election Commission said on Thursday. The notification will be issued on February 25 and the deadline for submitting nominations is March 4. The last date for withdrawing from the contest is March 8.
Polling will be held between 9am and 4pm on March 15 and votes will be counted the same day. All Covid-19 safety measures will be followed.
Dharmegowda, a JD(S) MLC, was found dead on railway tracks in Chikkamagaluru district in the early hours of December 29 last year. Police suspect it was death by suicide. He was at the centre of high drama in the legislative council on December 15, when members of BJP, JD(S) and Congress hurled abuses and jostled with each other. The row was triggered by a BJP bid to oust the then council chairman K Pratapachandra Shetty. During the ruckus, Dharmegowda, who was in Shetty’s chair, was pulled down by some Congress members.
It will be interesting to see if BJP considers fielding MLC AH Vishwanath in the council poll. He met BJP national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav in Delhi recently to make his case. Vishwanath, currently a nominated council member, is eager to get elected to the house as that is the only way he can become a minister in BS Yediyurappa’s cabinet.
He was among the 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs who walked out of the alliance in 2019, handing the advantage to BJP. The then assembly speaker disqualified them for the rebellion and higher courts have held that Vishwanath cannot become a minister unless he gets elected to either house of the legislature.