A viral video purportedly showing a group of people offering namaaz at Terminal-2 of the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru has ignited a political controversy, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party taking strong exception to the incident and demanding accountability from the state government.
The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) has confirmed that Kannada actor Ranya Rao, recently arrested for gold smuggling, was allotted 12 acres of industrial land in 2023 by the previous BJP government for setting up a steel plant. The allocation was approved during a state-level meeting in January 2023, when the BJP was in power. The Congress government, which came to power after the May 2023 elections, has released documents confirming the land allotment. Ranya Rao was arrested after gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore were seized from her at Bengaluru airport.
A controversy has erupted over the alleged misrepresentation of the India map on the posters displayed by the Congress to commemorate the centenary of 1924 Congress session in Karnataka's Belagavi, with the Bharatiya Janata Party dubbing it as 'vote bank' politics by the national party.
The rising pitch of road shows and long rallies with hectoring pitches seem to have exhausted and numbed the audiences, rather than motivating them to vote for the party, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
The Karnataka high court on Monday stayed investigation against Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and others over alleged irregularities concerning the now scrapped electoral bond scheme.
Asked by reporters if there will be surprise candidates in the fray from the Bharatiya Janata Party, he said: "Certainly, there is a plan for new experiments in certain constituencies and they will happen."
Given that the BJP made all these moves and that these moves were presumably approved by Modi if not directed by him, who should accept the responsibility for the party's rout? asks Aakar Patel.
Citing violation of party discipline, the state BJP has issued a showcause notice to Munirathna and asked him to clarify the allegations before a disciplinary committee within five days.
"Is being part of Modi's 'political family' a 'guarantee of protection' for criminals?" Rahul Gandhi asked.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday clarified that the administration was only contemplating lifting the ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions in the state and a decision will be taken after holding discussions at the government level.
Supporters of Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain allegedly shouted pro-Pakistan slogans after his victory in the Rajya Sabha elections.
'There is huge anger among our workers and leaders, so many of us have decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka as Independents to fight against this injustice.'
This strategy was discussed when Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently visited Mysuru to discuss the BJP's Lok Sabha plan, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Karnataka's legislator from Bharatiya Janata Party, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, has claimed that he was approached by some people offering him the state chief minister's position, in exchange for Rs 2,500 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and a strong team of Union ministers figure in the list of the party's 40 star campaigners for Karnataka assembly elections next month.
BJP said if voted to power, it would bring out a 'white paper' on the financial health of the state under the Congress rule.
The BJP's Karnataka unit shared photographs of the artworks inside the new Parliament House, including the murals of ancient India, Chanakya, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and B R Ambedkar and the cultural diversity of the country.
The Lok Sabha member from Dakshina Kannada met family members of Krishnappa, a BJP worker who was allegedly hacked to death, while his wife and son were grievously injured in the attack after they protested against bursting of crackers outside their house in Bengaluru Rural district's Hoskote on Sunday.
Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a "poisonous snake", drawing strong rebuke from the Bharatiya Janata Party which said "hate is coming out" with such comments and sought an apology from the veteran leader.
In his notice to Santhosh, served at the BJP's Karnataka headquarters at Malleswaram in Bengaluru, the investigating officer B Gangadhar cautioned the BJP leader that failure to appear before the SIT for interrogation could lead to his arrest as well.
It should announce its candidates 45 days before the elections; trust rooted leaders; start its campaign focused on five guarantees six months before elections.
The BJP is faced with the crucial question of who will lead the party in the four impending state polls this year: In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
In an election where every seat will matter, micro-strategising is going to be the order of the day. And in such a situation, party infighting - in all parties --could lead to unpredictable results.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its first list of 189 candidates for the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, fielding Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from his traditional Shiggaon constituency.
The DMK leadership may now have to deal with a demand for more seats from its Congress ally in the Lok Sabha polls, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It was not the individual's decision. It was the collective decision (that BSY should resign).'
"The BJP always tom-toms about its Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh model. What about the Karnataka model? That is the true face of the BJP," Manish Tiwari, Congress spokesperson said in Karnataka on Friday.
It is worth noting that the BJP did not use the short cut of Hindutva to win the game in Bangalore.
Cracks in the JD-S were evident when H D Revanna, who is the son of JD-S chief H D Deve Gowda did not go to Rashtrapathi Bhavan where both the JD-S and BJP MLAs were paraded before President Prathibha Patil.
Success in Karnataka's assembly polls will hinge on two factors: Drop a large number of incumbent MLAs and project Modi and not the state leaders, least of all Bommai.
'We are seeing an era where only what Modi wishes is going to happen.' 'A clear message has now been sent to others that if this fate could befall on Nitin Gadkari, then just think what could happen to lesser mortals.'
"We have to move together. We have to take Azadi (freedom), things that we don't get by asking, we have to take it by force, remember it," the AIMIM leader can be purportedly heard saying in Hindi.
Yediyurappa, however, evaded queries on whether he would be able to complete his tenure, as there has been speculation about a possible leadership change in the state following murmurs of discontent in the party.
Yediyurappa termed these two years as 'trial by fire', pointing out that he had to run the administration without a cabinet in the initial days, followed by devastating floods and the challenge of COVID-19 management, among other issues.
"A new era of development will start from now onwards," said BJP's Karnataka president B S Yeddyurappa soon after the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government lost the confidence vote.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Gifted to us by the BJP president, our campaign in Karnataka is off to a fabulous start. He says Yeddyurappa ran the most corrupt Government ever... True."
With the Bharatiya Janata Party set for an impressive win in the Karnataka assembly poll, its leaders described the victory as an endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development agenda and claimed that people have rejected divisive, toxic and negative agenda of the Congress.
The political crisis in Karnataka seems to be over for now with the feuding factions in the Bharatiya Janata Party's state unit reportedly reaching an agreement as per which 21 ministers will be sworn in at 5.30 pm on Monday. After deliberating over the issue in the last four days, both factions have come to an understanding and finalised the names of 21 legislators who will be sworn in as Cabinet ministers.
A day after state Home Minister KJ George sparked a controversy by blaming the media for tarnishing Bengaluru's image by focussing on rape stories for TRPs, the former state Bharatiya Janata Party president K S Eshwarappa attacked his political opponents.
The Congress had released 3 audio tapes in run up to the floor test, claiming that the BJP leaders were trying to 'poach' on the party MLAs
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