Congress fields 4 OBC candidates for Karnataka Council polls; Hariprasad retained
Synopsis
The Congress has gone all-OBC for its four Karnataka Legislative Council nominees, retaining state chief B.K. Hariprasad and Tippannappa Kamakanur while elevating P.V. Mohan and Shivanna Malavalli. The slate is a clear backward-class signal in a state where the party rode an OBC-Dalit-minority coalition to power in 2023.
Key Takeaways
The Congress announced candidates for 4 of 7 Karnataka Legislative Council seats on 3 June .
The four nominees are B.K.
Mohan , Shivanna Malavalli , and Tippannappa Kamakanur — all from the OBC community.
Hariprasad , who is also the KPCC President, and Kamakanur have been retained for another term.
Polling, if needed, will be held on 18 June at Vidhana Soudha , with counting the same evening from 5 pm .
Nominations close on 8 June ; the process concludes by 20 June .
The Indian National Congress on 3 June announced its candidates for four of the seven Karnataka Legislative Council seats heading to polls, retaining state unit chief B.K. Hariprasad and sitting member Tippannappa Kamakanur while bringing in two fresh faces, P.V. Mohan and Shivanna Malavalli. Notably, all four nominees belong to the Other Backward Classes (OBC), signalling a deliberate social-coalition pitch by the party in Bengaluru.
The Congress list
The list, released by the All India Congress Committee (AICC), includes B.K. Hariprasad, P.V. Mohan, Shivanna Malavalli, and Tippannappa Kamakanur. Hariprasad, who also serves as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President, returns for another term in the upper House.
An all-OBC slate
The selection has drawn attention as the Congress has fielded OBC representatives for all four seats it is contesting. The move is being read in political circles as a calibrated outreach to backward-class voters, a constituency the party has actively courted since its 2023 Assembly sweep in the state.
How the seats fell vacant
Elections have been notified to fill seven vacant seats in the Karnataka Legislative Council following the retirement of sitting members. The vacancies arose with the exit of Govindaraju (Congress), Naseer Ahmed (Congress), M.T.B. Nagaraj (BJP), Pratap Simha Nayak (BJP), Tippannappa Kamakanoor (Congress), Sunil Valyapure (BJP), and B.K. Hariprasad (Congress).
The election notification was issued by Karnataka Assembly Secretary and Returning Officer M.K. Vishalakshi on Monday. The four candidates will be elected to the State Legislative Council through voting by sitting MLAs.
Key dates in the poll calendar
According to the schedule, 8 June is the last date for filing nominations, with scrutiny on 9 June and the withdrawal deadline set for 11 June. Polling, if required, will be held on 18 June between 9 am and 4 pm at room number 106 in the Vidhana Soudha.
Counting will take place the same day from 5 pm onwards, with the election process scheduled to conclude by 20 June. Attention now turns to whether the BJP and JD(S) will field a joint slate for the remaining seats.
Point of View
Who is also KPCC chief, doubles as an internal stability signal amid the long-running Siddaramaiah-Shivakumar tussle. The real question is whether the BJP-JD(S) combine will counter with its own OBC-heavy slate or stick to dominant-caste arithmetic, a choice that will reveal how each bloc reads the state's caste census moment.
NationPress
22 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the Congress candidates for the Karnataka Legislative Council election?
The Congress has fielded B.K. Hariprasad, P.V. Mohan, Shivanna Malavalli, and Tippannappa Kamakanur for four of the seven vacant seats. All four candidates belong to the Other Backward Classes (OBC).
When will the Karnataka Legislative Council polls be held?
Polling, if required, will be held on 18 June between 9 am and 4 pm at room number 106 in the Vidhana Soudha. Counting will take place the same day from 5 pm, with the process concluding by 20 June.
Why are these Karnataka Legislative Council seats vacant?
Seven seats fell vacant following the retirement of sitting members, including four from the Congress and three from the BJP. The Karnataka Assembly Secretary issued the election notification earlier in the week.
Who elects members to the Karnataka Legislative Council?
The four candidates will be elected by sitting MLAs of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly through a secret ballot. This indirect election method applies to the seven seats currently up for grabs.
What is significant about the Congress candidate list?
The Congress has fielded OBC representatives for all four seats it is contesting, a move widely seen as a calibrated outreach to backward-class voters. It also retains state unit chief B.K. Hariprasad, reinforcing his leadership position within the Karnataka unit.
