Mallikarjun Kharge, three others declared unanimously elected to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka

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Mallikarjun Kharge during a debate in Rajya Sabha. File photo. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

All the four candidates, who had filed their nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka, including AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, have been declared unanimously elected.

Karnataka Legislative Assembly Secretary M.K. Vishalakshi, who is also the returning officer for the Rajya Sabha polls, issued a statement on Thursday (June 11, 2026) declaring them as elected unanimously.

The other three candidate are: Pawan Khera and Mansoor Ali Khan, who had contested on Congress ticket, and M. Nagaraja, who was a BJP nominee.

The polling for these seats were scheduled to be held on June 18, in which the members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly were supposed to exercise their franchise. However, the need for polling did not arise as there were only four candidates in the fray as against equal number of vacancies. June 11 was the deadline for withdrawal of nominations.

The biennial elections had been necessitated due to the retirement of former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge, and BJP members Iranna Kadadi and Narayana Koragappa on June 25.

However, the MLC elections are set to witness a keen poll battle as eight candidates are fighting for seven seats. None of the candidates withdrew from the contest on Thursday (June 11) when the deadline for withdrawing them ended.

While the ruling Congress has fielded five candidates, including KPCC President B. K. Hariprasad, the Opposition BJP has fielded two and the JD(S) too has fielded a candidate.

Going by the numerical strength of these parties in the Assembly, it appears that there will be a tussle between the fifth candidate of the ruling Congress and the lone candidate of the JD(S).

The candidates who are in the fray for the polls to the Legislative Council are: KPCC President B. K. Hariprasad, P.V. Mohan, Thippannappa Kamaknoor, Vinay Karthik Prakash, Shivanna B. S. (Congress) Lingaraj Patil and