The Karnataka Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of Karnataka state in southern India. Karnataka is one of the six states in India, where the state legislature is bicameral, comprising two houses. The two houses are the Vidhana Sabha (lower house) and the Vidhana Parishad (upper house).
The members of the Vidhana Sabha are directly elected by people through adult franchise. The members of the Vidhana Parishad are elected indirectly by members of local bodies, teachers and graduates.
There are 75 members of the Vidhana Parishad. Members of the Vidhana Parishad or Legislative Council normally have a term of six years, and are generally known as MLCs.
There are 224 members of the Vidhana Sabha or the Legislative Assembly of Karnataka state. One member is a representative of the Anglo-Indian community nominated by the Governor of Karnataka. The state of Karnataka is divided into 225 constituencies used to elect the Legislative assembly.
Each constituency elects one member of the assembly. Members are popularly known as M.LA's. The assembly is elected using the simple plurality or "first past the post" electoral system. The elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India.
The normal term of the members lasts for five years. In case of death, resignation or disqualification of a member, a by-election election is conducted for constituency represented by the member. The party which wins the most seats becomes the ruling party.
After the 2008 elections, B. S. Yeddyurappa of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) became chief minister with 110/224 MLAs from his party and supported by six independent MLAs. He has proved his "majority support" (i.e., at least 113 MLAs) on the floor of the house.
Read more about Karnataka Legislative Assembly: List of Assemblies, List of Speakers, Current Cabinet (2008-present), Current Party Composition, List of Current Members, Video Clip Controversy and Other Cases
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