According to reports Sumalatha, an independent MP, is likely to announce her decision to join the BJP in a press meet at Mandya on Friday.
Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Saturday accorded sanction for prosecution of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in connection with Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam', giving a major jolt to the nearly 15 month old Congress government.
The protests, which erupted after the Supreme Court refused to interfere with orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee directing the state to release 5,000 cusecs of water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu, have intensified.
As many as 44 flights to and from the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru were cancelled owing to the Karnataka bandh over the Cauvery water sharing issue with Tamil Nadu, airport authorities said.
Two-time chief minister and five-time MLA Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy has once again demonstrated his political acumen by bagging a seat in the union council of ministers, despite his party joining the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance just last year.
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.
On his sixth visit this year to Karnataka, where assembly elections are due by May, he also asserted that the 'double engine' government is a necessity for the fast-paced development of the state.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the borewell in his house in Sadashivanagar in the state capital has gone dry for the first time. This happened despite the fact that Sadashivanagar is located next to Sankey Lake.
While Wadiyar, scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family, is making his political debut from the Mysore Lok Sabha segment, Lakshmana is state Congress spokesperson and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's confidant.
Hegde said NDA winning more than 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls would eventually help in mustering a similar majority in the Rajya Sabha, and coming to power in two-third of the states.
"If the FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) report proves that the slogan raised in favour of Pakistan is true, serious action will be taken in this regard. There is no question of protecting those who raised slogans in favour of Pakistan," the Chief Minister told reporters.
According to party sources, the Congress leadership has been making efforts to convince some ministers and lawmakers to contest, as they have faced problems in identifying winnable candidates in several segments.
With Karnataka starting release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu in compliance with the directives of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), protests have erupted in southern parts of the State.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP national general Secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam, BJP state unit president B Y Vijayendra, and former chief ministers B S Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai were among those present at the legislature party meeting, where R Ashoka was picked as its leader.
The BJP is focusing determinedly on the seats it lost in 2019, with the hope of winning these either independently or with the aid of its allies.
Accusing Bharatiya Janata Party of attempting 'Operation Kamala' to destabalise his government, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday asserted that they will not be successful in their efforts, as none of the Congress legislators will fall victim to it.
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.
Shafiulla, in his resignation letter to the JD-S Karnataka president said that he had opted to stay outside the party for the period during which the state unit of the party had joined with the BJP to form the state government.
"Yediyurappa's yesterday reaction is his personal reaction. Until now, there has been no discussion on seat sharing or anything. We have met cordially two or three times. Later on, let us see what is going to happen," Kumaraswamy told ANI.
The Congress and JD-S have made much of Amit Shah's remarks about milk co-operatives. 'If the Opposition harps on the statement, it could add to the narrative that Gujarat was trying to take over Karnataka.'
'Pura phas gaya woh... barbad, satyanash ho gaya woh.' 'Usko ticket bhi diya, election bhi ladha woh; ganda video bhi bahar aa gaya; hamara izzat bhi nikal diya woh; abhi letter ke baare main pooch ke kya hota hai?'
Based on a complaint from Sridhar Gangadhar (26), the police said they have registered a case against 12 people, but no arrests have been made so far.
This is the second time Sonia Gandhi joined the yatra that began in September from Kanyakumari.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who has been in poor health, walked a few kilometres in Mandya, Karnataka.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will have an understanding with former prime minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal-Secular for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Friday, an announcement that shot up political temperature in Karnataka.
Amid cheers and slogan-shouting by party workers, Sonia Gandhi walked besides her son Rahul Gandhi and other leaders for a few kilometres in Karnataka's Mandya district. And there were several Kodak moments.
'All parties are engaging in polarisation to strengthen their political vote banks, which is very unfortunate because these are young, impressionable, students.' 'These students are our future.' 'What kind of a society are we banking upon if we are planting such poisonous seeds into their minds?'
Uday K M, also known as 'Kadalur Uday Gowda, was welcomed into the party fold in the presence of state Congress president DK Shivakumar.
Several activists of pro-Kannada organisations were also whisked away by the police at Town Hall, as they gathered there to stage a protest.
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.
Farmers organisations and pro-Kannada organisations staged protests in Mysuru, Mandya, Bengaluru and other parts expressing their anger and urging the state government not to release water to Tamil Nadu.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Pandavapura, participating in a public event of the party after a long gap.
For the May 10 assembly elections in Karnataka, the following are the 20 seats to watch out for.
The high court also directed that engineers involved in shoddy constructions using public money be brought to book.
How many more years, how many more states, how many more campaigns, how many more candidates can he ask votes for, before he or the voters or both tire?, asks Krishna Prasad.
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Several pollsters have predicted that the Congress may have an edge in Karnataka, which is BJP's southern citadel, in a hung assembly with a couple of them even projecting that the grand old party may get a majority on its own.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday charted out a bigger role for his son and Bharatiya Janata Party state vice-president B Y Vijayendra to make a dent into the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular citadel in old Mysuru region.
According to Siddaramaiah, Deepak Rao (Dakshina Kannada district) was killed on January 3, 2018; Masood (Dakshina Kannada district) on July 19, 2022; Mohammed Fazil (Dakshina Kannada) on July 28, 2022; Abdul Jalil (Dakshina Kannada) on December 24, 2022; Idrish Pasha (Mandya) on March 31, 2023; and Shamir (Gadag) on January 17, 2022 were killed in different incidents.
'There is a conscious move by the BJP to distance itself from the current state leadership.'
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