Elections in Karnataka

Elections in Karnataka, a state in India are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India. The Assembly of Karnataka creates laws regarding the conduct of local body elections unilaterally while any changes by the state legislature to the conduct of state level elections need to be approved by the Parliament of India. In addition, the state legislature may be dismissed by the Parliament according to Article 356 of the Indian Constitution and President's rule may be imposed.

Karnataka (highlighted) within India

Main Political Parties in Karnataka

BJP, INC and JD(S) are the dominant parties in the state. The CPI, CPI(M) and MES are the other active political entities in the state. In the past, the various precursors of the JD(S) such as JP and JD have also been very influential. Splinter groups such as KCP, KJP, BSR Congress, Lok Shakti and JD(U) have made their mark in a few elections. Erstwhile parties which have been influential in the state include Indian National Congress (Organisation) (NCO), Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP), National Development Party, Praja Socialist Party (PSP), Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP) and Swatantra Party.

Lok Sabha elections

Lok Sabha	Election year	1st party		2nd party		Others	Total seats
1952	First Lok Sabha		INC 10		KMPP 1		11
1957	Second Lok Sabha		INC 23		PSP 1	SCF 1, IND 1	26
1962	Third Lok Sabha		INC 25		LSS 1		26
1967	Fourth Lok Sabha		INC 18		SWP 5	PSP 2, SSP 1, IND 1	27
1971	Fifth Lok Sabha		INC 27				27
1977	Sixth Lok Sabha		INC 26		JP 2		28
1980	Seventh Lok Sabha		INC 27		JP 1		28
1984	Eighth Lok Sabha		INC 24		JP 4		28
1989	Ninth Lok Sabha		INC 26		JD 2		28
1991	Tenth Lok Sabha		INC 23		BJP 4	JP 1	28
1996	Eleventh Lok Sabha		JD 16		BJP 6	INC 5, KCP 1	28
1998	Twelfth Lok Sabha		BJP 13		INC 9	LS 3, JD 3	28
1999	Thirteenth Lok Sabha		INC 18		BJP 7	JD(U) 3	28
2004	Fourteenth Lok Sabha		BJP 18		INC 8	JD(S) 2	28
2009	Fifteenth Lok Sabha		BJP 19		INC 6	JD(S) 3	28
2014	Sixteenth Lok Sabha		BJP 17		INC 9	JD(S) 2	28
2019	Seventeenth Lok Sabha		BJP 25		INC 1	JD(S) 1, IND 1	28
2024	Eighteenth Lok Sabha		BJP 17		INC 9	JD(S) 2	28

Vidhan Sabha elections

Election year	Vidhan Sabha election	1st party		2nd party		3rd party		Others	Total seats	Chief minister	CM's party
1952	First Assembly		INC 74		KMPP 8			IND 11	99	Kengal Hanumanthaiah		INC
										Kadidal Manjappa
										S. Nijalingappa

Year	Vidhan Sabha Election	Party-wise Details	Chief Minister	Party
1952	First Assembly	Total: 99 Seats. Congress: 74, KMPP:8, Independents: 11[1]	Kengal Hanumanthaiah		Congress
Kadidal Manjappa
S. Nijalingappa
1957	Second Assembly	Total: 208. Congress: 150, PSP:18, Independents: 35.[2]	S. Nijalingappa
B. D. Jatti
1962	Third Assembly	Total: 208. Congress: 138, PSP:20, Swatantra: 9, Independents: 27	S.R. Kanthi
S. Nijalingappa
1967	Fourth Assembly	Total: 216. Congress: 126, PSP: 20, Swatantra: 16, SSP: 6, BJS: 4, Independents: 41	S. Nijalingappa
Veerendra Patil		Congress(O)
1972	Fifth Assembly	Total: 216. Congress: 165, NCO: 24, Independents: 20[3]	Devaraj Urs		Congress
1978	Sixth Assembly	Total: 224. Congress (I): 149, Janata: 59, Independents: 10	D. Devaraj Urs
R. Gundu Rao
1983	Seventh Assembly	Total: 224. Janata: 95, Congress (I): 82, BJP: 18, AIADMK: 1, and Independents: 21	Ramakrishna Hegde		Janata
1985	Eighth Assembly	Total: 224. Janata: 139, Congress: 65, BJP: 2, Independents: 13	Ramakrishna Hegde
S. R. Bommai
1989	Ninth Assembly	Total: 224. Congress: 178, JD: 24, BJP: 4, AIADMK: 1, and Independents: 11	Veerendra Patil		Congress
			S.Bangarappa
			M. Veerappa Moily
1994	Tenth Assembly	Total: 224. JD: 115, BJP: 40, Congress: 34, KCP: 10, AIADMK: 1, and Independents: 17	H. D. Deve Gowda		Janata Dal
J. H. Patel
1999	Eleventh Assembly	Total: 224. Congress: 132, BJP: 44, JD(U): 18, JD(S): 10, AIADMK: 1, and Independents: 18	S. M. Krishna		Congress
2004	Twelfth Assembly	Total: 224. BJP: 79, Congress: 65, JD(S): 58	Dharam Singh
H. D. Kumaraswamy		JD(S)
B. S. Yeddyurappa		BJP
2008		Thirteenth Assembly	Total: 224. BJP: 110, Congress: 80, JD(S): 28	B. S. Yeddyurappa
D. V. Sadananda Gowda
Jagadish Shettar
2013	Fourteenth Assembly	Total: 224. Congress: 122, BJP: 40, JD(S): 40, KJP: 6, BSR Congress: 4	Siddaramaiah		Congress
2018	Fifteenth Assembly	Total: 224 BJP: 104, Congress: 80, JD(S): 38, KPJP: 1, BSP: 1, IND: 1. Fifteen MLAs from Congress and JD-S resigned in 2019, forcing a major bye-poll. After the bye-poll, BJP added 12 seats to go to 116 MLAs in the assembly. BSY became CM.	H. D. Kumaraswamy		JD(S) (with Congress)
B. S. Yeddyurappa		BJP
Basavaraj Bommai
2023	Sixteenth Assembly	Total: 224. INC: 135, BJP: 66, JD(S): 19, Independents: 2, SKP: 1, KRPP: 1	Siddaramaiah		Congress

Rajya Sabha elections

Name of election	Seat No.	Previous MP	Previous Party		Date of retirement	Elected MP	Elected Party		Reference
1952 Indian Rajya Sabha elections	1					C. Gopala Krishnamoorty Reddy		Socialist Party of India
	2					K Chengalaraya Reddy		Indian National Congress
	3					L. H. Thimmabovi
	4					S. V. Krishnamoorthy Rao
	5					M. Govinda Reddy
	6					P. B. Basappa Shetty
	7					M. Valiulla
2020 Indian Rajya Sabha elections	1	B. K. Hariprasad		Indian National Congress	25-Jun-2020
	2	Rajeev Gowda			25-Jun-2020
	3	Prabhakar Kore		Bharatiya Janata Party	25-Jun-2020
	4	D. Kupendra Reddy		Janata Dal (Secular)	25-Jun-2020

• Rajya Sabha Election, 2020.
• Four Candidates Elected Unopposed.
• Ashok Gasti, BJP
• Eranna Kadadi, BJP
• Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress
• H D Deve Gowda, Janata Dal - Secular