The Karnataka Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of the six states in India where the state legislature is bicameral, comprising two houses: the Vidhan Sabha (lower house) and the Vidhan Parishad (upper house).
There are 224 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and are directly elected through adult franchise. Karnataka is thus divided into 224 constituencies to elect members to the Assembly, each constituency electing one member. 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.
History Mysore Representative Assembly was constituted in 1881 by Maharaja Chamaraja Wadiyar X, the first of its kind in princely India. It formed the Kingdom's sole unicameral legislature until when, in 1907, an upper house was carved out of it to form the Mysore Legislative Council, resulting in the Assembly's functioning as the lower house.
On 16 December 1949, Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar dissolved the sitting representative and legislative assemblies. A constituent assembly that was constituted in 1947 became the provisional assembly of Mysore until elections were held in 1952.
On Wednesday, 18 June 1952, at 11:00 am, the first session of the newly-formed Mysore Legislative Assembly was held at a conference hall in the old Public Offices building (the Attara Kacheri, the current seat of the Karnataka High Court) in Bangalore. The first assembly in Mysore formed under the Constitution of India, it had 99 elected members and one nominated member. In the first sitting of the assembly, V. Venkatappa, the honorary speaker, administered the oath of office to the members (including the then Chief Minister Kengal Hanumanthaiah), and then conducted an election to the post of speaker, which was contested by socialist leader Shantaveri Gopalagowda and H. Siddaiah. With 74 votes, the latter won, and Hanumanthaiah delivered a speech.
With the formation of Andhra state in 1953, parts of Bellary district from Madras State were added to Mysore state and the strength of the Assembly increased by five members. After the re-organization of the state of Mysore came into being on 1 November 1956 with four districts from the former Bombay state, three districts of Hyderabad state, a district, and taluk of the old Madras state of Coorg, and the princely state of Mysore. The state was renamed Karnataka in 1973.
The first sitting of the new assembly was held on 19 December 1956 in the newly built Vidhana Soudha. The strength of the assembly, which was 208 in 1957 increased to 216 in 1967 and to 224 plus a nominated member in 1978.
As of 2026, the only woman to have held the post of Speaker was K. S. Nagarathanamma, who served from 24 March 1972 to 3 March 1978.
The Budget Session and the Monsoon Session of the Legislature are held in Vidhana Soudha, Bengaluru. The Winter Session of the Legislature is held in Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi.
AssemblyFromToStatusDurationChief Minister(s)First Assembly18 June19521 April1957Completed Kengal Hanumanthaiah Kadidal Manjappa S. NijalingappaSecond Assembly19 April19571 March1962Completed S. Nijalingappa B.D. JattiThird Assembly15 March196228 Feb1967Completed S. R. Kanthi S. NijalingappaFourth Assembly15 March196714 April1971Completed S. Nijalingappa Veerendra PatilFifth Assembly24 March197231 Dec1977Dissolved D. Devaraj UrsSixth Assembly17 March19788 June1983Dissolved D. Devaraj Urs R. Gundu RaoSeventh Assembly24 July19832 January1985Dissolved Ramakrishna HegdeEighth Assembly18 March198521 April1989Dissolved Ramakrishna Hegde S. R. BommaiNinth Assembly18 Dec198920 Sept1994Dissolved Veerendra Patil S. Bangarappa M. Veerappa MoilyTenth Assembly25 Dec199422 July1999Dissolved H. D. Deve Gowda J. H. PatelEleventh Assembly25 Oct199928 May2004Completed S. M. KrishnaTwelfth Assembly28 May200419 Nov2007Dissolved Dharam Singh H. D. Kumaraswamy B. S. YeddyurappaThirteenth Assembly30 May20085 May2013Completed B. S. Yeddyurappa D. V. Sadananda Gowda Jagadish ShettarFourteenth Assembly13 May201315 May2018Completed SiddaramaiahFifteenth Assembly16 May201813 May2023Completed B. S. Yeddyurappa H. D. Kumaraswamy B. S. Yeddyurappa Basavaraj BommaiSixteenth Assembly20 May2023PresentIncumbent Siddaramaiah D. K. Shivakumar
Composition
Members of Legislative Assembly
See also Vidhana Soudha Government of Karnataka Karnataka Legislative Council List of chief ministers of Karnataka List of speakers of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly
References
External links
Karnataka Lok Sabha Election 2019 Result Website