In summer, the seat of the Legislative Assembly is in Bangalore, the capital of the state, while in winter it is at Belagavi, in the northern part of the state.

The term of the Legislative Assembly is five years, unless dissolved earlier.

Presently, it comprises 224 members who are directly elected from single-seat constituencies.

Since the independence of India, the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) have been given Reservation status, guaranteeing political representation, and the Constitution lays down the general principles of positive discrimination for SCs and STs.

[1][2]: 35, 137  The 2011 census of India stated that indigenous people constitute 7% of the state's total population, while people from the Scheduled Castes constitute 17.5% of the total population.