Karnataka legislature
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The Indian state of Karnataka has a bicameral (two chamber) legislature. The two houses are the Vidhan Sabha (lower house) and the Vidhan Parishad (upper house).
The members of the Vidhan Sabha are directly elected by people through adult franchise. The members of the Vidhan Parishat are elected indirectly by members of local bodies, teachers and graduates. There are 76 members of the Vidhan Parishat.
Members of the Vidhan Parishad or Legislative council normally have a term of six years, and are generally known as M.L.C.s. There are 224 members of the Vidhan Sabha or 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 223 constituencies used to elect the Legislative assembly.
Each constituency elects one member of the assembly. Members are popularly known as M.L.A.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. However past developments in politics of Karnataka were murky[citation needed].
After the 2008 elections, B. S. Yeddyurappa of the BJP became chief minister with 110/224 MLAs from his party and supported by 6 independent MLAs. He has proved his "majority support (i.e, at least 113 MLAs)" on the floor of the house.[1]
