Ending days of suspense, the Congress on Thursday announced Siddaramaiah as the next chief minister of Karnataka and D K Shivakumar as his only deputy in the soon-to-formed cabinet.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday asserted that Marathi is the language of Mumbai and Maharashtra and anyone who lives here should learn and speak it. Fadnavis was speaking in the state assembly after Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav said the government should clarify its stand on senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi's comments that a person coming to Mumbai may not necessarily learn Marathi.
Rediff Labs has developed a Sentiment Meter for the 2023 battle of Karnataka.
The Congress top brass on Wednesday rushed former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and DK Shivakumar to Shimla to parley with members of the party which is facing loss of support and risks losing power in the state.
The Congress now knows that it is the only force -- however weakened it might be -- that stands between the BJP and India's evolution into a single-party Republic. Because, once it is out of the way, the BJP could sort out the other regional powers: Co-opting some, demolishing others, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The party was reacting to Kumar's decision to resign as Bihar chief minister and leaving the Mahagathbandhan alliance in the state and also dealing a body blow to the opposition bloc INDIA.
The Janata Dal-Secular demanded that the Congress government should sack Khan from the Cabinet for his racist slur.
However, he claimed that this was a fight to save the party and its ideology and to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister once again.
A proposal by the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to rename a stretch of road in the city after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has sparked strong objections from the opposition JD(S) and citizens. The proposal, which calls for naming a stretch of KRS Road as 'Siddaramaiah Arogya Marga', has been met with criticism, with the JD(S) calling it a "betrayal and insult" to the city's history and the state. The proposal has also drawn ire from RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna, who alleges that the road holds historical significance and that Siddaramaiah is an accused in the MUDA site allotment case. Citizens have also voiced their objections to the proposal, and Krishna has announced her intention to challenge it legally.
This was one of the 43 cases the state Cabinet decided to withdraw at its meeting on Thursday following a petition by the Anjuman-e-Islam to the Home Minister G Parameshwara, official sources said.
Unhappy with the Question Hour being stretched, Congress MLA Basavaraj Rayareddy said the Speaker should 'tear' the rule book if he is not following it.
Opposition leaders on Saturday lauded the Congress for its victory in Karnataka and thanked the people of the state, saying that this win has showed that 'Modi is not invincible'.
He urged the Central government to take this matter seriously and come to their rescue immediately.
Protests for and against the hijab had intensified in different parts of Karnataka and turned violent in some places on Tuesday.
It is in power on its own only in three states -- Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana -- with a big question mark on whether it can even stake claim to be head of the INDIA bloc.
If she cannot recast the party, bring together the factions opposed to her, and present herself as her brother's true challenger, there will be little left for her in politics, notes Aditi Phadnis.
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.
Dr Manmohan Singh's mortal remains were consigned to the flames at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday, December 28, 2024 amid the chanting of religious hymns.
He termed the allegations as "just random statements" and demanded that people making such allegations should demonstrate how the EVMs can be "hacked"
It also requested the police that an 'urgent and immediate' first information report (FIR) be lodged against the former Bharatiya Janata Party chief and others for the 'offences'.
The Congress victory in Karnataka, its first big state since 2018, puts the party back in the game for general elections as it re-establishes primacy in the opposition space that is currently vastly fragmented despite efforts to cobble up a united front against the BJP.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray launched a scathing attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), questioning the outcome of the recent Maharashtra assembly elections and alleging hypocrisy in the BJP's stance on corruption. He also hinted at internal changes within the MNS, emphasizing the need for discipline and a renewed focus on the party's goals.
Pawar has summoned a meeting of party leaders in Mumbai on Saturday to finalise its plans for the assembly elections in Karnataka scheduled for May 10.
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.
The Congress Legislature Party, which met at a private hotel in Bengaluru on Sunday evening, passed a unanimous resolution authorising the party chief to pick its leader.
Several top Congress leaders from party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were involved in the hectic parleys with Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar, which finally helped to break the logjam over the top post in Karnataka.
The BJP Legislature Party meeting is scheduled for Friday, during which the election of its leader, who will also be the Leader of Opposition in the assembly, is likely to be announced.
A new cabinet in the state will be in place in the next 48-72 hours.
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."
The IT-BT minister claimed that the then BJP government did not merely charge a '40 per cent commission', as his party had claimed during the assembly election, but had collected a commission of more than 400 per cent.
On balance, RG contesting from Raebareli instead of Amethi isn't the masterstroke the party's adherents are touting it to be, but neither is it the blunder the BJP and its tame media is framing it as, points out Prem Panicker.
As many as 13 Congress and three Janata Dal-Secular MLAs had resigned from the Karnataka Assembly in 2019 thus bringing down the 14-month-old coalition government of the Congress and the JD-S led by H D Kumaraswamy.
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.
'The result was announced by the officials at the Counting Centre at S S M R V College in Jayanagar late tonight,' a state Information Department official said in a statement.
If elected to the post, 53-year-old Khader will be the first Muslim leader to serve as Speaker of Karnataka assembly.
Rahul Gandhi may also contest from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Rae Bareli, a seat which was previously held by Sonia Gandhi.
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.
There are lessons for the Congress to learn from the Karnataka elections of how burying the hatchet among top leaders and not washing dirty linen in public can help, says Ramesh Menon.
With this, the Cabinet will reach its full strength of 34.
Conveying good wishes to people of the state and all political parties for the New Year, he however wished that the Congress comes to power.
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