The Karnataka Legislative Council passed a bill to curb hate speech, facing strong opposition from BJP and JD(S), who criticized it as 'draconian' and a threat to free speech. The bill proposes jail terms and fines for hate crimes and repeated offenses.
The Rajya Sabha election scene in Karnataka heated up with the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (Secular) combine fielding its second candidate, even though the alliance has the strength to win only one out four seats.
Instructions would also be given to the legislators on how they should behave during the swearing-in ceremony, he added.
The Congress is not fielding a candidate in Mandya in order to support Darshan and open the constituency up for a direct contest between the SKP and the Janata Dal-Secular which is hoping to retain its seat.
Headed by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, the JD-S has long been a strong third player in the southern state where the Congress and the BJP have been the two main parties.
It is said that Kumaraswamy was in a dilemma, as Nikhil was not keen on contesting but buckled under pressure from party workers.
In a dramatic development, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Minister C P Yogeeshwara on Wednesday quit his party and joined the Congress, which is now expected to field him in the November 13 assembly bypolls from Channapatna.
Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.
They have been asked to appear before SIT for investigation, they said.
Two persons -- Chetan and Likith Gowda -- were arrested in Hassan, and they are reportedly associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the district, they said.
The crime investigation department booked Prajwal, grandson of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, after a JD-S worker from Hassan lodged a complaint against him.
The court remanded him to judicial custody for seven days till May 14.
Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal-Secular legislators boycotted the governor's address to the joint session of the legislature.
Kumaraswamy reiterated his desire to be the Agriculture Minister.
The Congress on Monday shifted all its MLAs to a hotel ahead of the biennial election to fill four vacancies from Karnataka in Rajya Sabha apparently to keep the flock together.
He also cautioned political leaders about making public statements or sharing information in connection with the case, which is sensitive.
Questioning Bharatiya Janata Party's locus standi to make such a demand, he asked the opposition party as to why it doesn't trust the police.
B S Yediyurappa, deputy chief minister designate of the new Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government to be sworn-in in Karnataka on February 3, Sunday said the government would formulate a Common Minimum Programme.
The Janata Dal-Secular on Thursday petitioned Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, seeking his intervention recommending a CBI probe into the sexual abuse charges against Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna.
Kumaraswamy alleged that 25,000 pen drives were distributed in the entire state, and cited a report in a regional daily to support his claim.
"I will personally on Friday, May 31 at 10 am will come before the SIT and will cooperate with the investigation and will respond to it (charges). I have faith in court and I am confident I will come out of false cases through court," Pajwal said in a video statement aired on Kannada TV channel Asianet Suvarna News.
The former chief minister also sought to distance JD-S's alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the case, amid attacks by the ruling Congress seeking their response on the issue.
Calling former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda-led party "communal" following its alliance with the BJP, he urged Janata Dal-Secular, to remove the word 'Secular' from its name.
Five candidates were in the fray for the four seats in the elections, including Janata Dal-Secular contestant D Kupendra Reddy.
Amid criticism and protests against the government over allegations that Cauvery water was being released from Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) dam to Tamil Nadu, he clarified that the discharge was meant for Bengaluru, and not for the neighbouring state.
Kumar Bangarappa and Madhu Bangarappa are pitted against each other in Soraba constituency in Shivamogga district, which was represented by their father from 1967 to 1994 till his election to the Lok Sabha.
In Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal-Secular have tied at the second spot with 40 seats each. Who will now be the main Opposition in the state and who will be its leader?
Security was beefed up on Monday a day after a row broke out over the removal of a saffron Hanuman flag from Keragodu village in Mandya, with protests demanding its restoration and the incident sparking a political confrontation between the Congress government and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (Secular).
2019 was the Bharatiya Janata Party's breakout year, when it stretched the boundaries of what was thought possible and ended up with 303 seats on its own steam. Now it is forced to play defence, on a pitch queered by too many variables, asserts Prem Panicker.
Lingayats are said to constitute about 17 per cent of Karnataka's population, and the community has dominance in as many as 100 out of total 224 constituencies, majority of these seats being in north Karnataka region.
While Congress alleged that the ban on arrack by the erstwhile JD - S-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition was responsible for it, the JD-S demanded a probe by the CBI. Thirty five people lost their lives in Bangalore and Kolar on Sunday after drinking poisonous hooch. "I am charging B S Yeddyurappa (BJP leader), the BJP, JD-S.....you are directly responsible for this," Congress leader Janardhana Poojary said.
The CPI-M is upbeat in its quest to form a Third Front and struck a pre-poll alliance with the BJD in Orissa within a day after the ruling state party snapped ties with longtime ally BJP.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader B S Yediyurappa will lead BJP-JD-S legislators before President Prathiba Patil in New Delhi on Tuesday. Stating that during the meeting with the President, Congress' anti-democratic attitude would be exposed, Yediyurappa also alleged that the Congress was leaving no stone unturned to thwart the installation of a BJP-led coalition government in Karnataka.
The prime minister assured the delegation that the Centre would go by the spirit of the Constitution, but did not give any specific timeframe, said BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu.
Ex-prime minister H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal-Secular likely to play the kingmaker if no party gets the majority.
The Janata Dal-Secular leader also said that he may move the confidence of motion on May 24.
BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is predicted to win both seats -- Varanasi and Vadodara. Kejriwal is places at number 2 in Varanasi, says the ABP News-Nielsen exit poll. Senior BJP leader L K Advani is likely to win the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha for the sixth time.
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