Karnataka's two-month-old government saw its first cabinet expansion with 19 MLAs sworn in as ministers, leading to immediate discontent and the resignation of one Congress legislator over his exclusion.
Siddaramaiah, a veteran politician with roots in the Janata Parivar, has had a remarkable journey, consolidating his position in the Congress party to become the longest-serving Chief Minister of Karnataka.
BSR Party chief Sriramulu has claimed that he has the support of over 20 BJP MLAs. He would need just ten MLAs from the BJP to cross vote in order to defeat Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda reports Vicky Nanjappa.
As Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda prepares to face an acid test in the Karnataka legislative assembly on Thursday, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs have been locked up at the posh Golden Palms resort in the outskirts of Bangalore.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dismisses rumors of a change in leadership, asserting he will complete his full five-year term. His statement follows comments from Congress leaders suggesting Deputy CM D K Shivakumar would succeed him.
A complaint was filed against former Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and seven other government officials, including the chief secretary, before the Lokayukta court on Wednesday for alleged misuse of power to grab property.
Anand Asnotikar, an MLA in the Gowda camp, has threatened to pull down the government if the chief minister is changed as demanded by the Yeddyurappa-led faction.
At least six persons, including a child, were killed when a speeding truck crashed against a luxury sleeper bus that caught fire under the impact in Chitradurga district in the wee hours of Thursday, a senior police official said.
In a fresh twist to the ongoing power struggle in Karnataka, caste groups backing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar on Thursday threw their weight behind them, with one warning Congress against unseating the incumbent CM while the other community strongly batted for Shivakumar's elevation.
Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, D K Shivakumar, responding to several media queries regarding the current 'internal conflict' in Karnataka Congress in reference to the chief ministerial position, said on Tuesday that he doesn't want to embarrass or weaken the party.
'In Kerala, we are part of the government and our MLA is a minister there. These units understood the situation that made us to go with the BJP and supported our move. Our minister in the Left party's government (K Krishnankutty) in Kerala has given consent to us'
The Bharatiya Janata Party's central leadership is having a tough time trying to maintain peace between the two factions in its Karnataka unit which are headed by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and current CM Sadananda Gowda. Both Yeddyurappa and Gowda have released lists of their supporters. The faction led by Yeddyurappa faction has already arrived at the BJP legislature party meet to elect Jagadish Shettar as the new CM.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna passed away at his residence in Bengaluru early Tuesday morning, his family said.
While the wait for Yeddyurappa to quit is over, the Karnataka crisis is far from over. There is still no clarity on who would be the next chief minister of Karnataka although the acting CM Yeddyurappa has said that he wants Sadananda Gowda, a Lok Sabha member, to be the next CM.
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.
Senior BJP leader B Sriramulu has invited K N Rajanna, recently sacked as minister from the Congress government, to join the party. This comes as a state minister and some ruling party legislators met with Rajanna, signaling potential political shifts in Karnataka.
The city received about 104 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours, inundating many low-lying areas and leading to traffic pile-up, prompting the BJP to launch a scathing attack on the ruling Congress.
Hailing former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, calling him a "role model", he also advocated for more women representation in the assembly.
D Sadananda Gowda will be sworn in as the new chief minister of Karnataka on Thursday at 4.30 pm, according to a communication from the Raj Bhavan.
This marks the entry of the 8th member from the Gowda family into politics.
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".
Lok Sabha member D V Sadananda Gowda was on Thursday sworn-in as chief minister of Karnataka, succeeding B S Yeddyurappa, who quit in the wake of the Lokayukta report on illegal mining that indicted him.
Addressing a meeting of party workers in Hassan on Monday, she said, her name will be officially declared soon.
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.
However, he claimed that this was a fight to save the party and its ideology and to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister once again.
The suspension of 18 Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs from the Karnataka Legislative assembly for six months has been revoked, Speaker U T Khader said on Sunday.
A Member of Parliament, representing the Udupi Chikmagalur constituency, Gowda was pitch-forked into the reckoning as a chief ministerial candidate following the resignation of B S Yeddyruppa as he was seen as a non-controversial candidate.
Gowda said he would not comment on or criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi unless the latter traded charges against him.
Sadananda Gowda, who assumed charge as Karnataka chief minister on Thursday, has a tough task ahead. Ironically, that task is not the administration of the state, but to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party flock in Karnataka together.
Opposition to the Karnataka government's proposed implementation of a caste census has intensified with dominant communities raising concerns about the survey's findings. The report, which has not been publicly released, is said to contradict traditional perceptions regarding the numerical strength of various castes, particularly Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas. These communities, along with political parties, including sections of the ruling Congress, have criticized the survey as "unscientific" and demanded a fresh assessment. The Vokkaligara Sangha and the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha have expressed strong opposition, alleging that the report misrepresents their populations and demanding a fresh survey. Meanwhile, Dalit and OBC groups have defended the survey and its recommendations, including an increase in reservation for OBCs to 51%. The controversy has fueled political tensions in Karnataka, with opposition parties accusing the Congress government of using the caste census for political gain.
All the action from political crisis in Karnataka has now shifted to New Delhi, with both the camps -- led by former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and current CM Sadananda Gowda, respectively -- in the Bharatiya Janata Party scheduled to meet with the top leadership in a bid to end the row.
This is the second time in the last four months that KCR has avoided meeting Modi during the latter's visit to Hyderabad.
He said he has directed police to identify, trace and secure the victims in view of the alleged kidnapping of a victim at Krishnaraja Nagar town in Mysuru district.
The in-fighting within the Bharatiya Janata Party has taken its toll and the party has lost the prestigious constituency of Udupi-Chickmagalur to the Congress. The by-election to this Parliamentary constituency, which was earlier held by Chief Minister D Sadananda Gowda, was won by the Congress candidate by over 40,000 votes.The seat had fallen vacant as Gowda had resigned as a member of Parliament after he was appointed the chief minister.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday came down heavily on the Congress government in Karnataka for flaunting their 'rich fortunes and luxury lifestyles' following a viral video on social media showing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his cabinet colleague B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan in a private jet.
The Janata Dal-Secular on Tuesday charged Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa with violating the model code of conduct by addressing individual letters to beneficiaries of old age pension scheme and said it would complain to the Election Commission about it.
Even as former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa continues to play every card in the book to climb his way back to power, his arch rivals have planned on hosting a mammoth convention to facilitate Sadananda Gowda, the current chief minister of the state.
The crime investigation department, probing the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act case against Yediyurappa, had earlier summoned him for questioning.
D V Sadananda Gowda who replaced B S Yeddyurappa as the chief Minister of Karnataka won the elections to the Karnataka legislative assembly on Thursday.
Denying reports of his resignation, Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda has said the question of a leadership change does not arise in Karnataka.
