Popular Kannada film actor Ambareesh has won over many fans over the years with his performances on the silver screen. But it seems unlikely that he will be able to convert his considerable filmy fortune to an electoral victory in the Mandya city constituency in the Karnataka assembly polls on May 5. Ambareesh, a Congress candidate who is popularly known as Mandyada Gandu (the man of Mandya), is pitted against M Srinivas of the Janata Dal - Secular.
The number of nominations filed by candidates for the May 5 Assembly elections in Karnataka crossed 2,000 on Tuesday.
The three and half year old Achuthanandan cabinet is on the verge of expansion with three ministers getting into the ministry after taking the oath of office.
Fearing poaching from the BJP, the MLAs were moved and expected to be lodged in five-star hotels or resorts.
'Siddaramaiah was openly taking on the BJP's communal agenda, which very few non-BJP politicians do.'
Kumaraswamy's remarks assumed significance in the backdrop of former home minister Prakash rushing to Delhi on Friday to continue talks with Congress leaders in a bid to concretise efforts for government formation proposal.
About 55 to 60 per cent voters on Sunday exercised their franchise in the Udupi-Chikmaglur Lok Sabha bye-election where ruling BJP faces a litmus test, locked in a bitter contest with Congress and Janata Dal-Secular.
The opposition Congress and Janata Dal Secular on Tuesday made a forceful plea in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly against notification of the 2007 Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award, underlining that the move would amount to grave injustice to the State's interests.
The MLAs in the letter said they feel threatened, and requested the police to stop any Congress leader from meeting them.
Jagadish Shettar was elected as the speaker of the new Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Thursday. Shettar was elected unopposed as both the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular decided against fielding a candidate for the post of Speaker
With the party heading towards a smiple majority in Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said it would be a "gross constitutional impropriety" if it is not invited to form the next government in the southern state. Party spokesman Ravi Shanker Prasad said as trends continued to pour in favour of BJP with the saffron party crossing the 100 mark in the 224- member assembly.
Polling is scheduled in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, six seats in Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
A survey conducted by the Karnataka Election Watch, a non-governmental organisation, states that the Bharatiya Janata Party has the highest number of candidates with a criminal background. The BJP tops the list with 13 while the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular come second and third with 9 and 8 candidates respectively.
Seeking clarification, Karnataka Governor has sent back to the government a bill that sought to collect funds from temples with over Rs 10 lakh annual income, citing that a case concerning the earlier related act and amendments made to it is still pending in Supreme Court.
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.
As Karnataka draws closer to elections, the three major political parties are finalizing the strategy to be adopted in the forthcoming elections.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and colleague Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the Yediyurappa government has no moral right to continue in office any more.
In the midst of opposition protests in Karnataka over the illegal mining issue, Governor H R Bharadwaj on Tuesday met President Pratibha Patil.
The two-day conclave of the Karnataka Janata Dal-Secular that concluded on Tuesday decided against exploring possibilities of forming another government and galvanised the party for mid-term polls.The top leadership has been trying since Monday to placate its agitated MLAs, who have been insisting that efforts be made towards installing a government either with its estranged partner BJP or with the Congress.
The Congress in north Karnataka has been given a three month ultimatum to regain its past glory by All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who met with youth Congress party workers at Hubli on Wednesday. Rahul sought to know why the party's performance has been dismal in north Karnataka. He urged party workers to pull up their socks and work extensively towards bettering the party.
"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.
Party chief H D Kumaraswamy told media persons, "If my party does not get majority, we will not form an alliance with anyone. I would rather sit in opposition than being a part of a coalition government."
HD Kumaraswamy, former chief minister, will contest from Channapatna where he had won the election defeating local heavyweight CP Yogeshwar in 2018.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has plenty to smile about, after it swept the elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike or the Bengaluru Municipal Corporation which had remained dissolved for three years.
With opinion polls predicting a hung assembly in Karnataka and the possibility that the JD-S could be the 'king maker' after the polls, H D Deve Gowda stays mum about his party's post-election strategy.
BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, who had stepped down as minister on March 3 following allegations of sexual harassment against him, said on Tuesday that the videos purportedly showing him with a woman were fake and vowed to send the 'conspirators' behind bars.
In a last-ditch bid to save the coalition government in Karnataka, Congress Friday offered Janata Dal-Secular the "Maharashtra model" power-sharing formula, just before Chief Minister Dharam Singh was to seek a vote of confidence.
Gowda denied BJP had any role in the resignations when asked if it was part of "Operation Kamala".
Battling allegations of corruption and nepotism, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday said he would soon release "documentary evidence" on scams during the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular regimes in the state.
A day after the Congress ruled out forming a coalition government with it in Karnataka, the Janata Dal-Secular on Thursday said that it will go to the people to seek a fresh mandate. "The BJP has already announced that it will face elections. The Congress has pulled the curtain down on government formation. We are the only third party left in the state. We should keep these developments in mind and go ahead to strengthen and prepare the party for elections," Gowda said.
'Some of his ministers have performed abysmally, and Bommai has faced an unwanted campaign of religious polarisation imposed by national BJP leaders.'
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.
An expansion of the Janata Dal (Secular)-Bharatiya Janata Party Council of Ministers in Karnataka will take place within a fortnight, state Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said Tuesday.
Whether I have become a political untouchable now or not, will be decided by the people of Karnataka, says JD-S supremo H D Deve Gowda.
The current situation in Karnataka is such that if the controversial Reddy brothers -- state ministers and Bellary's mining tycoons -- are ousted, everyone has something to gain, believes Vicky Nanjappa.
Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa as CM and Deputy CM of Karnataka.
Both the BJP and the Congress have their share of challenges, with finding winning horses on top of this list.
The Janata Dal-Secular on Thursday petitioned Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, seeking his intervention recommending a CBI probe into the sexual abuse charges against Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna.
"JD-S will not transfer power to BJP. See what all will happen on October 3," Singh, a former chief minister, told reporters in Bangalore on Thursday.
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