Rajya Sabha elections: 214 MLAs cast their vote in Karnataka

Bengaluru: As many as 214 MLAs in Karnataka exercised their franchise for the four Rajya Sabha seats on Tuesday till 1 pm, Election Commission officials said.

The Congress has 133 MLAs, excluding the Speaker, while the BJP and JD(S) have 66 and 19 legislators respectively, in the 223-member House. Others account for four. However, one Congress MLA died on Sunday.

On Tuesday, voting began at 9 am and will go on till 4 pm. The counting will start from 5 pm. The MLAs will exercise their voting rights using an open ballot system. They have to display their voting preference to the nominated polling agents.

The Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant following the retirement of four members -- Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar (BJP) and Congress's G C Chandrashekhar, Syed Naseer Hussain and L Hanumanthaiah.

The ruling party has fielded G C Chandrashekhar, Naseer Hussain and former union minister Ajay Maken.

The BJP has fielded Narayansa Bhandage, besides JD(S) candidate D Kupendra Reddy as the NDA candidate.