The Government of Karnataka, officially known as, Karnataka Rajya Sarakara, is a democratically elected body with the governor as the constitutional head. The governor who is appointed for five years appoints the chief minister and on the advice of the chief minister appoints his council of ministers.
Administrative divisions
Karnataka State has been divided into four revenue divisions, 49 sub-divisions, 30 districts, 237 taluks and 747 hoblies/revenue circles and 5628 gram panchayats for administrative purposes. The state has 281 towns and 7 municipal corporations. Bangalore is the first largest urban agglomeration out of 23 metropolis, urban agglomerations and cities in India. It is among the fastest growing cities in the world.
Political and administrative reorganisation
Karnataka took its present shape in 1956, when the states of Mysore and Coorg (Kodagu) were merged with the Kannada-speaking districts of the former states of Bombay and Hyderabad, and Madras. Mysore state was made up of 10 districts: Bangalore, Kolar, Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Hassan, Chikmagalur (Kadur), Shimoga and Chitradurga; Bellary had been transferred from Madras state to Mysore in 1953, when the new Andhra State was created out of Madras’ northern districts. Kodagu became a district, and Dakshina Kannada (South Kanara) district was transferred from Madras state, Uttara Kannada (North Kanara), Dharwad, Belgaum District, and Bijapur District from Bombay state, and Bidar District, Kalaburgi District, and Raichur District from Hyderabad state.
In 1989, Bangalore rural district was split from Bangalore and, in 1997, Bagalkot district split from Vijayapur, Chamrajnagar district split from Mysore, Gadag district split from Dharwad, Haveri district split from Dharwad, Koppal district split from Raichur, Udupi district split from Dakshina Kannada, and Davanagere district was created from parts of Bellary, Chitradurga, Dharwad, and Shimoga.
Legislature
The state legislature is bicameral and consists of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The Legislative Assembly consists of 224 members with one member nominated by the governor to represent the Anglo-Indian community. The term of office of the members is five years and the term of a member elected to the council is six years. The Legislative Council is a permanent body with one-third of its members retiring every two years.
