Bengaluru, Jun 8 (PTI) The Election Commission on Monday deferred the elections to the four Karnataka Legislative Council seats, which was due on June 30, in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision was taken following the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs issued on May 30 and inputs from the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka.

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The Commission said it is of the considered view that going ahead with the electoral process in the current environment may not be feasible in view of the restrictions imposed for the maintenance of public safety and avoiding health hazard, and therefore, the election cannot be completed within its scheduled term.

"Now, therefore, Commission, invoking its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution of India read with section 16 of the Representation of the People's Act, 1951, hereby orders that the process of elections to the above mentioned seats shall be initiated at a later date after reviewing the situation," the Commission noted.

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The four seats that will fall vacant comprise two Graduates constituency and two Teachers Constituency.

While R Chowdareddy Thoopalli from JD(S) and S V Sankanur from the BJP represent Graduates Constituency, Sharanappa Mattur from Congress and Puttanna represent the Teachers' Constituency.

Puttanna was elected on a JD(S) ticket but had switched loyalty to the BJP.

He was expelled from the JD(S) in November after which he joined the BJP in March.PTI GMS SS

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)