Bangalore: The announcement of the calendar of events for the biennial elections to the Legislative Council has spurred political activity in all the three major parties — the Janata Dal (Secular), the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress. Aspirants for party nomination have begun meeting their leaders. In the Congress, a few aspirants are planning to go to Delhi to meet Central leaders and press their case.

As many as 20 seats in the 75-member Upper House, including three seats to which nominations are made, will fall vacant or are already vacant. Prominent among the retiring MLCs is Chairman V.R. Sudarshan, whose term expires on June 17. Ten others elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly will also retire.

Mr. Sudarshan, who recently constituted the Ethics Committee to oversee the conduct of the members within and outside the House, has been instrumental in bringing about changes in the conduct of the proceedings of the Council, and he is stated to be the only Congress candidate whose renomination by the party is guaranteed.

Sources in the BJP and the Janata Dal (S) told The Hindu that the party high commands were yet to take up the Council election issue. They said there was no word from the two parties about the number of seats that they planned to contest, and whether they would arrive at an understanding before finalising the nominations. "The elections are still far away. A final picture should emerge in the third week of this month, and this would confirm whether the elections for the seats to be filled by the members of the Legislative Assembly would be unanimous or whether there would be an election on June 1," sources said.

The nomination of Janata Dal (S) general secretary and spokesman Y.S.V. Datta seems likely. Former Janata Dal (S) State unit president N. Thippanna is expected to be rewarded .

Notifications

The notifications for the election by the members of the Legislative Assembly and that by graduates and teachers will be issued on Monday.

Eleven of 17 retiring members (apart from nominated members) are from the Congress. In view of its reduced strength in the Legislative Assembly, the party can get three of its candidates elected comfortably. The Janatal Dal (S), one member of which is retiring (Vittal Herur), stands to gain as three of its candidates are assured of being elected on the basis of the strength of the party in the Assembly.

The BJP will be the biggest gainer since it has the largest number of members (79) in the Lower House.

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