Karnataka Legislative Assembly


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 and the Vidhan Parishad.
There are 224 Members of the Legislative Assembly 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 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, 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 2025, 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.
AssemblyPeriodChief MinisterDuration
First Assembly18 June 1952 – 1 April 1957Kengal Hanumanthaiah, Kadidal Manjappa, S. Nijalingappa
Second Assembly19 April 1957 – 1 March 1962S. Nijalingappa, B.D. Jatti
Third Assembly15 March 1962 – 28 February 1967S. R. Kanthi, S. Nijalingappa
Fourth Assembly15 March 1967 – 14 April 1971S. Nijalingappa, Veerendra Patil
Fifth Assembly24 March 1972 – 31 December 1977 D. Devaraj Urs
Sixth Assembly17 March 1978 – 8 June 1983 D. Devaraj Urs, R. Gundu Rao
Seventh Assembly24 July 1983 – 2 January 1985 Ramakrishna Hegde
Eighth Assembly18 March 1985 – 21 April 1989 Ramakrishna Hegde, S. R. Bommai
Ninth Assembly18 December 1989 – 20 September 1994 Veerendra Patil, S.Bangarappa, M. Veerappa Moily
Tenth Assembly25 December 1994 – 22 July 1999 H.D. Deve Gowda, J. H. Patel
Eleventh Assembly25 October 1999 – 28 May 2004S. M. Krishna
Twelfth Assembly28 May 2004 – 19 November 2007 Dharam Singh, H. D. Kumaraswamy, B. S. Yeddyurappa
Thirteenth Assembly30 May 2008 – 5 May 2013B. S. Yeddyurappa, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Jagadish Shettar
Fourteenth Assembly13 May 2013 – 15 May 2018Siddaramaiah
Fifteenth Assembly16 May 2018 – 13 May 2023B.S. Yeddyurappa, H. D. Kumaraswamy, B. S. Yeddyurappa, Basavaraj Bommai
Sixteenth Assembly20 May 2023 – PresentSiddaramaiah

Members of Legislative Assembly