Here is a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the two aspiring CMs.
Karnataka Minister Umesh Katti died due to cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Tuesday night, official sources said.
An invitation will also be sent to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, TDP president Chandrababu Naidu and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
In its exit poll released after the voting on May 10, India Today-Axis My India predicted a clear majority for the Congress with 122-140 seats and gave the BJP 62-80 seats. It gave 20-25 seats to the JD-S.
A day before counting of votes polled in the Karnataka assembly elections, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress on Friday went into a huddle and held strategy sessions on ways to keep their flock together.
Priyank Kharge on Wednesday said criteria and frameworks are being decided for its implementation.
Amid speculations of Operation Hasta' going on in Karnataka to woo Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to join the Congress, former BJP minister B C Patil and ex-MLA Narasimha Naik met Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar during the birthday party of noted Kannada film actor Sudeep Sanjeev, who is popularly known as Sudeep.
There is no mention of Kolar, the second seat from where senior party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, wants to contest, in addition to Varuna, where his name is already cleared.
'Some of his ministers have performed abysmally, and Bommai has faced an unwanted campaign of religious polarisation imposed by national BJP leaders.'
Hassan seat, has become a bone of contention, as Gowda's daughter-in-law Bhavani Revanna, who has thrown her hat in the ring, has not relented, despite her brother-in-law Kumaraswamy, repeatedly making it clear that she will not be fielded, and instead a 'loyal party worker' will enter the fray.
'I have faith in the party high command. I have certain principles. I can also take about 50 legislators and do the shouting, but for me the discipline of the party is important. If people like us don't follow things, there won't be any discipline in the party. I have said that if the high command gives me the responsibility, I will take it up. I have not said I won't'
The BJP state unit is banking on the party's central leadership to shore up its prospects in the May 10 assembly polls as it fights anti-incumbency.
Amid speculation that he has been asked to come to the national capital by the high command, he said: "I have not received any call yet. Let's see."
There are critics who say the Bommai's government was not able to counter the Congress narrative to paint his administration as corrupt, a factor that helped the Congress surge in the May 10 assembly elections.
Savadi would now be the grand old party's candidate in Athani in Belagavi district, Congress leaders said.
Voting came to an end for the Karnataka assembly elections on Wednesday at 6 pm with data showing a voter turnout of 65.69 per cent an hour ago.
Amul's move is being seen by many, especially opposition parties, as a threat to KMF's famed dairy brand 'Nandini'.
This is the first meeting between Gandhi and Kumar since the latter walked out of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar and formed a 'Mahagathbandhan' government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and outside support of the Left.
He claimed that people from all walks of life across the state were angry against this BJP government.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said if the Congress comes to power in Karnataka, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high in the state and it will be 'afflicted with riots'.
Shivakumar has got the all-important Major and Medium Irrigation and Bengaluru City Development, including the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bangalore Development Authority, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited.
"There are clearly two sides. On one side, there is an organisation of patriots in the form of BJP and on the other side, tukde-tukde gang have come together under the leadership of the Congress. It is for the people of Karnataka to decide now whether they are with the patriots or those who support people who want to divide this country," he added.
'Entire process of meeting individual legislators of Congress party has been completed with great bohemia.'
' Modi is for the entire country, not just for Karnataka. He had come for campaigning here. The Congress might have won in Karnataka but has seen defeat across the country. Is it the win of local leaders or state leaders?'
Even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was defeated in the Karnataka assembly elections, the party retained its traditional stronghold in the coastal region by securing victories in 11 of the 13 constituencies in the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
Top state leaders--Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Congress' Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar and Janata Dal-Secular leader HD Kumaraswamy are contesting from different seats.
The Hassan seat has become a big headache for Janata Dal-Secular, which is witnessing a rebellion within the first family of the party.
Should the anti-defection law in India exist only to prevent democratically elected governments from being toppled?
Amid protests and anger in some quarters against observing 'Hindi Diwas', Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Wednesday his government is bringing in a legislation to make Kannada "mandatory" in the state.
With this, the Cabinet will reach its full strength of 34.
Apart from the 18 members of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including the Bharatiya Janata Party, seven non-National Democratic Alliance parties will attend the ceremony, going by their stated position on the issue which has snowballed into another political flashpoint between the ruling and opposition camps.
Will the new Congress government implement the five 'guarantees' that helped it in part to wrest power from the Bharatiya Janata Party in toto or will they now add a "conditions apply" clause?
They are the contenders, the leaders of parties that will finally form a government in Karnataka.
The BJP leadership knows it can't boast of governance in the state as the Bommai government has little to show. So, the game plan is to project Modi, who will reiterate how important it is for a state to have the same party ruling in power at the Centre, observes Ramesh Menon.
Both the eight-time MLA Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah have made no secret of their ambition to become CM and had been involved in a game of political one upmanship in the past.
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.
With most exit polls predicting a tight contest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls in Karnataka, leaders of the two parties seem 'jittery' over the outcome, while the Janata Dal-Secular appears to be expecting a hung verdict, which would enable it to play a role in government formation.
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."
A video released on Monday, the second in two days, shows the two leaders presenting a united front in the polls and exchanging notes on the Congress campaign.
The BJP on Wednesday also named its in-charges for assembly bypolls to four seats in Tripura.
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