Legislative Council elections and their significance

Karnataka will soon witness the elections to twenty-five seats in the Legislative Council. These members will be elected from the different local authorities at the district level. Even though it is an indirect election with the voters being the members of local bodies, it does evoke a lot of interest (and speculation) given the fluidity of party loyalties and preferences at the local level.

The Constitution of India leaves it to the states to decide whether they would like to have a Legislative Council (Upper House of the State legislature - with the Lower House being the Legislative Assembly) or not. As of now, six of the 28 states of India have a Legislative Council. The states other than Karnataka which have a Council are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. It is also interesting to note that two current Chief Ministers (Uddhav Thackeray in Maharashtra and Nitish Kumar in Bihar) are members of the Legislative Council. In Karnataka too, when Sadananda Gowda became Chief Minister he got himself elected to the Legislative Council. In fact, Karnataka was one of the few states that increased the size of its Council to 75 in 1987 during the Chief Ministership of Ramakrishna Hegde.

As the state gets ready for the election of its Legislative Council members, it may be useful to pause and assess its role. The Upper House of a Legislature often has a specific role to play. While it is a second chamber that ensures an opportunity for a review of any legislative action initiated in the lower house, it often also plays a representative role. In the Union Parliament in India, the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House) as the name itself indicates, was seen as the Council of States - a body that represented the interests of the States of India at the national level. Thus, a bulk of its members are elected by the State Legislative Assemblies. Similarly, Legislative Councils at the State level, were seen to be a second chamber to act as a check on possibly hasty legislative action by the Lower House. It was also seen as a body that provided representation to sections that could not otherwise be elected in the direct elections to the lower house. Ever since the passage of the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment, when urban and rural local bodies were accorded a constitutional status and a legitimate third tier of the Indian federal system, many saw Legislative Councils as an important platform at the state level, to represent the interests of local bodies.

As per the composition norms of the Legislative Council, one thirds of its members are elected by local bodies, another one thirds by the State Assembly, and yet another one thirds from Graduate Teachers constituencies and nominated by the Government from among eminent people. It is the elections of these one third members (25) from local authorities which the state will soon witness.

What has been the profile of those being elected to the Legislative Council. Political parties and leaders have often viewed Council membership as a way to recognize party loyalists, accommodate those defeated in the direct elections to the Assembly and reward those close to party leaders. Ideally, those elected from the local authorities to the Legislative Council should be those who have had experience of working in elected local bodies and would bring to the Upper House of the State legislature, the benefit of this experience. A review of the profile of Karnataka Legislative Council members elected from local authorities would show that many former Adhyakshas or Upadhyakshas of local bodies have been recognized by their parties for their contribution and elevated to the Upper House of the State Legislature. One ideally expects that the number of such members should only increase.

It would be useful for political parties to have an internal discussion on whether they candidates they are nominating for election to the Legislative Council from the local authorities have a track record of service at the level of local government either by having been elected to local bodies or by participated and contributed in party level activities at the local level. One has sometimes found that those nominated by parties as their candidates have no such track record of participation or contribution to local government/ politics. It then defeats the very purpose of providing representation to local authorities.

Yet another reason why the elections to the Legislative Council from the local authorities are going to attract attention, is the nature of party alliances and local politics that will play out. Given the fluidity of such alliances at the local level, once has seen in the past unanticipated alliances between parties in one district and diametrically opposite combinations in a neighbouring district. Local factional fights within political parties often play out in the elections to the Legislative Council from the local authorities.

All these political machinations will be keenly observed in the coming days. They would also be indicators of both the internal health of political parties at the local level as well as the world of possibilities in terms of local alliances. The politics and sociology behind these alliances is what would be fascinating and extremely revealing.