Crisis gripped an embattled Janata Dal-Secular in Karnataka on Wednesday in the wake of a section of its partymen opening parleys with Congress to revive coalition ties for forming a government to avoid a snap poll and the top brass expressing dissent over the move.
With there being no sign of any reconciliation between any of the political parties in Karnataka, the wait and watch game has begun all over again.
A day after failing to topple the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government during the trust vote, leaders of the Left parties, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the United National Progressive Alliance met in New Delhi to chalk out their future course of action.The meeting, held at the residence of BSP supremo Mayawati, was attended by Communist Party of India Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat, Communist Party of India leaders A B Bardhan and D Raja.
'Siddaramaiah was openly taking on the BJP's communal agenda, which very few non-BJP politicians do.'
The Karnataka elections had its share of upsets this year. Some major politicians who were defeated include former chief ministers N Dharam Singh and S Bangarappa, former Union minister and film star Ambareesh, Madhu and Kumar Bangarappa.
"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.
Jagadish and Anukumar were taken into custody from the district headquarters town of Chitradurga by a team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dinakar.
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.
HD Kumaraswamy, former chief minister, will contest from Channapatna where he had won the election defeating local heavyweight CP Yogeshwar in 2018.
The apex court had on July 12 restrained Karnataka Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar from taking any decision till July 16 on the resignation and disqualification of 10 rebel MLAs of the ruling Congress-Janata Dal-Secular coalition.
These MLAs are Anand Singh, K Sudhakar, N Nagaraj, Munirathna and Roshan Baig.
They met at Modi's residence in New Delhi a day after the NDA won a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha election, paving the way for him to take the oath for a third consecutive term, a first for any ruling alliance since 1962.
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on Friday for 88 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala.
The delay was because the party was not able to finalise the names.
Janata Dal (Secular) leaders, who have been rallying behind dismissed Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, have set August 20 as deadline for party chief H D Devegowda "to repent and rectify the mistake".
Rahul Gandhi deliberately kept himself in the background, because he knew he is yet to achieve the stature to talk to a politician as senior as Deve Gowda.
Seemingly expressing his displeasure against ministers demanding three more deputy chief minister posts in Karnataka, state Congress president D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said the party would respond to them appropriately.
The Shiromani Akali Dal skipped the meeting, besides the Aam Aadmi Party, the TRS and the BJD.
Buoyed by the recent victories in bypolls, Rahul was keen to revamp the state unit.
Chief Electoral Officer M N Vidyashankar said on Sunday an average of 66 per cent polling was registered in the first phase of elections in the segments spread over 11 districts. This is higher than the 65.07 per cent average polled in the 224 assembly segments in 2004 polls.
The total income of national and regional parties from unknown sources for 2020-21 stands at Rs 690.67 crore.
'Some of his ministers have performed abysmally, and Bommai has faced an unwanted campaign of religious polarisation imposed by national BJP leaders.'
It is speculated that Scindia, known to be very close to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, met the legislators in a bid to feel their pulses in the wake of developments in Karnataka and Goa.
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.
The BSP is depending on votes from Dalits and minorities to make inroads into Congress and JD-S vote banks. The party is confident of coming in third place, saying that would be a satisfactory result for its first foray into Karnataka politics.
Different options to defuse the crisis threatening the existence of the coalition had reportedly emerged at the Gowda-Gandhi meeting but both parties have remained tightlipped on the outcome of the talks.\n\n
The party desperate to retain power in the state will also prepare dossiers on opposition MLAs to assess the winability of prospective party nominees.
He claimed that people from all walks of life across the state were angry against this BJP government.
The suspended Congress MLA made it clear he would not fly to Mumbai or Delhi, unlike the other disgruntled MLAs who have camped in a Mumbai hotel.
Minor explosions occurred in the office buildings of the Janata Dal Secular and Congress parties in Bangalore on Friday evening, police said on Saturday. \n
Terming his ouster by JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda as an "act of vendetta and undemocractic," sacked Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Saturday, categorically ruled out joining any party, including the Congress.
'The Muslims in Karnataka are safe and secure. The state government belongs to everybody.'
Narendra Modi will take oath as the prime minister for a third consecutive term on Sunday evening as President Droupadi Murmu has invited him to form the government.
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.
'We all are together and whatever decision we have taken.. at any cost no question of going back (on resignations)'
He also said the expansion of his cabinet would take place once state Congress leaders get an approval from their high command.
However, the national party count has gone down to six from 14 in over seven decades.
'Ideally, Gowda should ask for a Cabinet berth in the Union government. This would help us build the party and a tie-up for us with the Congress is always good, keeping in mind the forthcoming elections.' says Janata Dal-S MP Shivanna.
The speaker said he would take a decision on the remaining 14 cases in a "couple of days."
"Why should I not? Let them file a complaint. If they want to put me behind the bars, I'm ready. I am already facing a lot of issues. I don't mind about all these things. I have taken a very big risk. Definitely, I won't say no. I know someone has recorded it. Let him release it. What is wrong in it," he said while talking to reporters. He was responding to media questions about the allegations that he tore the resignation of the some of the MLAs.
