State / UT
Karnataka
Karnataka is a southern Indian state formed on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act, which unified Kannada-speaking territories drawn from the princely state of Mysore, the Bombay and Madras Presidencies, Hyderabad State and Coorg; it was renamed from Mysore State to Karnataka in 1973. It is India's eighth most populous state with 61.13 million residents at the 2011 Census, sends 28 members to the Lok Sabha, and its government projected a state economy of Rs 30.70 lakh crore for 2025-26 — among the largest of any state. It is one of a minority of Indian states with a bicameral legislature: a 224-seat Legislative Assembly and a 75-seat Legislative Council, seated at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. Structurally, Karnataka is distinctive on two counts: Article 371J of the Constitution gives its north-eastern Kalyana Karnataka region constitutionally entrenched reservations in state education and employment, and its capital's concentration of information-technology output makes the state a persistent claimant in disputes with the Union over tax devolution.
Updated
- Capital
- Bengaluru
- Formed
- 1 November 1956 as Mysore State; renamed Karnataka in 1973
- Legislature
- Bicameral — Legislative Assembly (224 seats), Legislative Council (75 seats)
- Lok Sabha seats
- 28
- Rajya Sabha seats
- 12
- Population (2011 Census)
- 61.13 million (8th largest state)
- Districts
- 31
- Official language
- Kannada
- High Court
- High Court of Karnataka, Bengaluru
- GSDP (2025-26 BE)
- Rs 30.70 lakh crore (state budget estimate)
Role
Karnataka is a state of the Indian Union governed under Part VI of the Constitution: a Governor appointed by the President as constitutional head, a Council of Ministers headed by the current Chief Minister and responsible to the legislature, and a bicameral legislature seated at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. The 224-seat Legislative Assembly is directly elected for five-year terms; the 75-seat Legislative Council is a permanent body with staggered retirement, elected in part by local authorities, graduates and teachers, and in part nominated by the Governor. Karnataka is one of only six states that retained a second chamber, which gives its legislative process a revising stage most states lack. The state administers the State List: police and public order, land and land revenue, agriculture and irrigation, public health, school and higher education, and local government across 31 districts. Judicial authority over the state rests with the High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru. In the Union Parliament the state holds 28 Lok Sabha seats and 12 Rajya Sabha seats, placing it in the second rank of states by parliamentary weight — well behind the northern giants, and roughly level with its southern neighbours.
What makes Karnataka structurally distinctive is the combination of a constitutionally entrenched internal asymmetry and an externally contested fiscal position. Article 371J, in force since 1 January 2013, singles out the six-district Kalyana Karnataka region for a statutory development board and reservations in state education and public employment — an intra-state constitutional carve-out that only a handful of states carry, and one that formalises the developmental gap between the state’s north-east and its southern core. Against this, the state’s fiscal weight is concentrated overwhelmingly in its capital: Bengaluru’s information-technology and services output drives a state economy the government estimated at Rs 30.70 lakh crore for 2025-26, against total budgeted expenditure of Rs 3.83 lakh crore and a fiscal deficit target of 2.9% of GSDP. That concentration underpins Karnataka’s recurring argument with the Centre over tax devolution — that a state generating a large share of national revenue receives a diminishing share back under successive Finance Commission formulas. Karnataka’s relationship with the Union is further mediated by bodies that sit above the state on questions it treats as vital: the Cauvery Water Management Authority, constituted by the Union in June 2018, controls releases from Karnataka’s reservoirs to Tamil Nadu, and the Mahadayi award, notified by the Centre in February 2020, fixes what the state may draw from a river rising within its territory. On water, Karnataka is a state whose executive decisions are bounded by central and judicial instruments.
Desk maintained by IndiaStand editorial cycles. Officeholders are transient; this dossier tracks the institution.
Timeline since 1947
- reference
Mysore State formed under the States Reorganisation Act
The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 constituted Mysore State by merging Kannada-speaking territories from the princely state of Mysore, the Bombay and Madras Presidencies, Hyderabad State and Coorg. The date is observed as Karnataka Rajyotsava.
- reference
Mysore State renamed Karnataka
The state was renamed from Mysore to Karnataka, reflecting that the reorganised unit extended well beyond the former princely state and covered the wider Kannada-speaking region.
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Article 371J comes into force for the Kalyana Karnataka region
The Constitution (Ninety-eighth Amendment) Act, 2012 inserted Article 371J, effective 1 January 2013, covering the districts of Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal and Ballari. It provides for a regional development board with equitable fund allocation, and reservations for the region's residents in educational and vocational training institutions and in state government posts. The provision followed the Justice Raghavendra Rao Committee's findings on the region's socio-economic lag. The region was officially renamed from Hyderabad-Karnataka to Kalyana Karnataka in 2019.
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Bangalore officially renamed Bengaluru
The state government implemented the name change from 1 November 2014 after Union government approval. The proposal was accepted by the state in 2005 and a corporation resolution followed on 27 September 2006.
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Supreme Court revises the Cauvery allocation
The Supreme Court allocated 284.75 tmcft to Karnataka and 404.25 tmcft to Tamil Nadu, leaving Kerala at 30 tmcft and Puducherry at 7 tmcft. The Union government constituted the Cauvery Water Management Authority on 1 June 2018 to implement the award, placing operational control of releases in a central body.
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Mahadayi tribunal award; Centre notifies it in 2020
The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal apportioned 5.4 tmcft to Karnataka (including 3.9 tmcft for export outside the basin), 24 tmcft to Goa and 1.33 tmcft to Maharashtra for consumptive use. The Union government notified the award in the Gazette on 27 February 2020.
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Vijayanagara carved out of Ballari as the 31st district
Six taluks were separated from Ballari district to form Vijayanagara, taking the state to 31 districts across four revenue divisions.
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Assembly election results: Congress 135 of 224 seats
Polling on 10 May 2023 recorded 73.84% turnout, the highest in the state's assembly election history. The Indian National Congress won 135 seats on 42.88% of the vote, the Bharatiya Janata Party 66 on 36.00%, and the Janata Dal (Secular) 19 on 13.29%. The Congress formed the government.
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Greater Bengaluru Authority comes into existence
The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, passed by the legislature in March 2025, restructured the capital's urban governance. The Greater Bengaluru Authority came into existence on 15 May 2025 as the apex coordinating body and reached full operational capacity on 2 September 2025. The Act provides for splitting the former Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike into up to seven corporations; five were notified, covering 368 wards across 712 sq km.
Frequently asked
- What is Karnataka?
- Karnataka is a southern Indian state formed on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act, which unified Kannada-speaking territories drawn from the princely state of Mysore, the Bombay and Madras Presidencies, Hyderabad State and Coorg; it was renamed from Mysore State to Karnataka in 1973. It is India's eighth most populous state with 61.13 million residents at the 2011 Census, sends 28 members to the Lok Sabha, and its government projected a state economy of Rs 30.70 lakh crore for 2025-26 — among the largest of any state. It is one of a minority of Indian states with a bicameral legislature: a 224-seat Legislative Assembly and a 75-seat Legislative Council, seated at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. Structurally, Karnataka is distinctive on two counts: Article 371J of the Constitution gives its north-eastern Kalyana Karnataka region constitutionally entrenched reservations in state education and employment, and its capital's concentration of information-technology output makes the state a persistent claimant in disputes with the Union over tax devolution.
- When was Karnataka established?
- Karnataka was established 1956-11-01.
- What does Karnataka do?
- Its remit covers State List subjects: law and order and the state police, land and land revenue, agriculture and irrigation, public health, school and higher education, and local government, A bicameral legislature — the 224-seat Legislative Assembly and the 75-seat Legislative Council — one of six states retaining an upper house, Constitutional special provisions under Article 371J for the Kalyana Karnataka region, including a statutory development board and reservations in education and state employment, Party to three long-running inter-state river disputes — Cauvery (with Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry), Mahadayi (with Goa and Maharashtra) and Krishna, Urban governance of the Bengaluru metropolitan region, restructured under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act into a Greater Bengaluru Authority over multiple city corporations.
- What is the latest on Karnataka?
- As of 2026-07-17: Greater Bengaluru Authority comes into existence. The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, passed by the legislature in March 2025, restructured the capital's urban governance. The Greater Bengaluru Authority came into existence on 15 May 2025 as the apex coordinating body and reached full operational capacity on 2 September 2025. The Act provides for splitting the former Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike into up to seven corporations; five were notified, covering 368 wards across 712 sq km.
Official sources
The government's own pages for this institution — go straight to the primary.
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State government's central portal — departments, schemes, citizen services.
karnataka.gov.in/english
- Karnataka Legislature legislation
Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council — members, committees, rules of procedure.
kla.kar.nic.in/
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Electoral rolls, constituency data, candidate affidavits, election statistics.
ceo.karnataka.gov.in/
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Publishes the Economic Survey of Karnataka, state income estimates and statistical abstracts.
des.karnataka.gov.in/
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Independent analysis of state expenditure, GSDP, fiscal and revenue deficit.
prsindia.org/budgets/states/karnataka-budget-analysis-2025-2