Only six states of the country have Legislative Councils in addition to Legislative Assemblies. Karnataka is one among them. Assembly and Council together form the legislature. MLCs have almost equal authorities, opportunities and responsibilities as MLAs. There have been several prominent ministers from the Council.

Common man does not vote in legislative council elections. Legislative Councils have separate electoral rolls and constituencies different from Assembly Elections. 75 seats in legislative council of Karnataka are divided as:

1. Teachers constituency – 7
2. Graduate constituency – 7
3. Nominated by Governor – 11
4. Elected by MLAs – 25
5. Local Authorities constituency – 25

Teachers’ is the only profession with special privilege of electing their own representatives. However, not many teachers are aware of this.

Electoral rolls of Teachers Constituency for Bangalore Urban and Rural schools have 25 parts. Parts for Doddaballapura and Magadi have only one teacher each in the rolls while Nelamangala has 3. Famed Ramangara has 31 and buzzing Chikpet has 61 while Gandhinagar has 72. Total voters in the Constituency are only 15,900.

The next elections for Bangalore Teachers Constituency are due in June 2014.

Watch carefully at http://ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in/ under “What’s New” box. You find a link to http://ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in/PDFS/Teachers%20and%20Graduates/Teachers_Eng_Pages_1_4.pdf sneaked in with the following announcement:

“Electoral Registration Officer of Bangalore Teachers’ Constituency … hereby call upon every person entitled to be registered but whose name is not already registered in the electoral roll of the aforesaid Teachers’ constituency, as published as draft on 1st October, 2013 to send to or deliver at his office, on or before, 30th October 2013”

You find relevant rules and the forms in that page.

There is also a link to the voters registered in this constituency. Even if your name is in the rolls, to remain in the rolls you have to submit proof that you are still qualified to vote as a teacher.

Most of the schools in the constituency were closed from 6t^h to 20^th October. Now, the teachers have less than ten days to register as voters. The final list will be published sometimes in January 2014. After that the list will be continuously updated for 2 or 3 months.

Qualifications to register: You should have been a teacher in a secondary school or above for 3 years during the past six years. You may now be a retired teacher. You do not have to submit the form in person. Your school can send them in bulk.

Related Articles

Check if your name still exists on voter rolls!