Mr Pradhan's understanding of realpolitik and organisational dynamics makes him the ultimate party man, notes Aditi Phadnis.
After all attempts of peace between former Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yeddyurappa and the Bharatiya Janata Party has failed, there have been indications that a new political outfit will be floated on November 19.
A Special Court in Bengaluru on Wednesday ordered a Lokayukta police probe against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case.
Gandhi, who is seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala, in a video appeal said this election is to save democracy and the Constitution.
The woman and Althaf had been friends on Instagram for the last three months and both belonged to the same town (Karkala).
The full bench of the Election Commission may meet in the first week of March and the announcement of election schedule may take place by March 10
The BJP presented a surplus, farmer friendly budget for Rs 18.85 crore for the year 2008-09. Emphasis was also given to Bengaluru city with Rs 36,000 crore being allocated for infrastructure development. In his budget speech, Yeddyurappa said that the main intention was to improve the image of Bengaluru and put it on the global map. For this to take place the development of infrastructure was the key.
The Congress seems to be heading for the Karnataka polls so far on the strength of its local leadership and focusing on issues concerning the state, making corruption a central theme of its campaigning.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee will not be attending the swearing-in ceremony of Congress leader Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka CM and has designated party leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar for the programme, a Trinamool Congress leader said.
Taking its campaign against Governor H R Bhardwaj to a new level, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka on Friday decided to launch state-wide protests seeking his immediate recall for 'insulting the people of the state'. Apprehending that Bhardwaj might sanction the prosecution of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on alleged land scams on the basis of a complaint by a lawyers' forum, a meeting of the BJP core committee decided to organise anti-governor protests.
Accusing the BJP of working to 'divide India and spread hate and violence', he asserted that a fight of ideologies is going on in India.
The war between the two factions is on the rise with the Gowda camp stating that Yeddyurappa and co cannot dictate terms on every aspect.
New Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Wednesday ruled out creation of a Deputy chief minister's post and re-induction of controversial Reddy brothers in the cabinet.
The cobbler also said officials from various government departments also reached out to him to enquire about his problems ever since the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha made a surprise visit to his humble shop in the Vidhayak Nagar area on outskirts of Sultanpur, turning Chet into a local celebrity.
Denying reports of his resignation, Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda has said the question of a leadership change does not arise in Karnataka.
he FIR was lodged against her based on a complaint, the police said.
The Karnataka legislative assembly is in disarray and the Opposition has refused to let proceedings begin until the chief minister orders a CBI probe into the illegal mining. Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa explains the issue.
Launching the Congress' campaign in Sindhanoor in northern Karnataka, Rahul said BJP broke electoral promises and "the only thing they remembered was how to loot public money in the state. They have done it. They are past masters in this".
The Congress on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Karnataka ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from its lone southern citadel with a comfortable majority in a morale booster win that will be key for reviving its electoral fortunes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Voters in the three main urban centres in Karnataka -- Bengaluru, Mysore and Mangalore -- have resoundingly rejected the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.The Congress has won in 17 of the 28 constituencies in Bengaluru, with major candidates like Roshan Baig, N Harris, R V Devraj, Priya Krishna and Dinesh Gundu Rao all winning in their constituencies.
Congress leaders and workers from Kolar have been exerting pressure on the Congress legislature party leader to contest from there.
Banners have come up in front of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar's residences in Bengaluru, erected by supporters, congratulating them for Congress win and projecting them as "next CM".
The Congress has accused the BJP of carrying out "one of the most heinous" horse-trading the country has ever seen and said it will hold nationwide protests against the "immoral political destabilisation".
Law Minister M Veerappa Moily on Saturday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party for criticising the advisory sent by the Centre to the B S Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka, saying the party should have taken it in the right spirit.
Five Congress legislators on Wednesday threatened to resign if senior party leader and minister K H Muniyappa's son-in-law Chikka Peddanna was given a ticket to contest from Kolar in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, bringing into open the divisions in the outfit.
Hit by a barrage of allegations of corruption and intense power struggle among its leaders, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka is holding a two-day brainstorming session to give lessons on morality and discipline to its legislators from Friday.
President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the appointment of a few Governors and changes in portfolios of some others.
In the byelections held on September 13, the BJP's Y C Vishwanath, a medical practitioner, won by over 13,000 votes in Kadur, held earlier by the Congress. But the BJP failed to retain Gulbarga South, with the JD-S candidate Aruna Patil romping home by over 3,000 votes over the Congress's Ajay Singh, son of former chief minister Dharam Singh
The BJP's decision to bow down to the caste equation may backfire, points out Vicky Nanjappa
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.'
The Supreme Court will hear on Friday a plea challenging a Bombay high court verdict upholding a Mumbai college's decision to ban hijabs, burqas and naqabs inside the campus.
The Congress would also take inspiration from history as it was from Karnataka that an embattled Indira Gandhi had revived her dwindling political future by winning a Lok Sabha bypoll from Chikmagalur.
"There is no threat to the government. On February 8, I am going to present the budget. Nothing to worry about," he told reporters after Governor H R Bhardwaj's address to the joint state legislature session in Bengaluru.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader B S Yediyurappa took the oath as Deputy Chief Minister.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which pulled off a hat-trick of wins in Haryana by bucking anti-incumbency, managed to make significant inroads into the Dalit seats and Jat strongholds.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka received a jolt on Sunday when a minister from Chief Minister's home district of Shimoga quit following a media report which alleged that he sexually assaulted a friend's wife.
On being branded as a party of Lingayats, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said in North Karnataka, other parties were trying to give his party this image. "However, this is untrue and the distribution of tickets, especially in Bangalore, will prove that wrong. Most of our candidates are from the Vokkaliga and Reddy community and hence branding the BJP as a party of Lingayats is not correct," he added.
Congress President Kharge likened Modi to a venomous snake on Thursday at a public meeting, which had triggered a row, prompting the BJP to seek an apology from Kharge. Kharge later sought to clarify his remarks were not aimed at the PM but instead at his party, the BJP.
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party released its first list of 136 candidates for the May assembly poll in Karnataka, discontent appears to be brewing in the party with those denied tickets venting their ire in public against party leaders. BJP activists torched posters and banners of party leaders in Herekerur in Dharwad district to protest against denial of ticket to U B Banakar.
Indicating the imminent replacement of D V Sadananda Gowda as Karnataka chief minister, State Bharatiya Janata Party president K S Eshwarappa on Friday said he believed that the party has solved the leadership issue and would abide by their decision.
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