Naveen Patnaik's guest list has been prepared with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly polls, reports Archis Mohan.
'About two I will tell you, but won't tell you about the third one'
Naidu met Congress president Rahul Gandhi and discussed with him the possibilities of all opposition parties uniting and forging a joint opposition alliance.
Personal differences between the two alliance partners, Congress insiders say, are owing to Kumaraswamy's style of functioning. He, unlike his father, is suspected to have a soft corner for the BJP, reports Bibhu Ranjan Mishra.
'Bommai is everybody's man and nobody's man'
He also asserted that within 24 hours of taking oath, he would prove the majority on the floor of the House.
As the political turmoil lingered on with the ruling coalition making frenetic efforts to win back rebels who have pushed it to the brink of collapse, assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar on Monday announced the confidence motion sought to be moved by Kumaraswamy would be taken up at 11 am on July 18.
Thackeray said on Sunday his government is committed towards incorporating into the state the areas of Karnataka where Marathi-speaking people are in majority.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday expanded his 17-month old cabinet, inducting seven ministers, and indicated that excise minister H Nagesh would be dropped. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan.
With Eranna Bhimappa Kadadi and Ashok Jasti -- one Lingayat and one from the OBC -- named as BJP's candidates for the upper house, bypassing the recommendation of the state unit chief Nalin Kumar Kateel and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, as well as the core committee of the state, BJP leaders in Karnataka say the move is calculated to diminish the stature of the CM and create conditions for him to be eased out.
Ruling out any "operation" by the ruling alliance to poach the BJP MLAs, the chief minister said there was no necessity for it and that he was "relaxed."
Yediyurappa is made of sterner stuff and is not going to yield so easily.
The April 11 polling will decide the fate of several political bigwigs.
In the second phase on April 18, 97 seats,spread across 13 states and one Union Territory, will go to the polls.
BJP's loss of power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattigarh means that it will have to face a resurgent Congress in the three states where it had emerged victorious in 62 of 65 Lok Sabha seats.
'Already, the BJP treats the Constitution like the unpopular old uncle at the party, whom everyone pays lip service to and then proceeds to ignore,' says Mitali Saran.
Kumaraswamy made the stunning claim that the BJP offered the MLAs of his party Rs 100 crore and ministerial berths.
With sulking Tourism Minister Anand Singh shutting down his MLA's office in Hospet in Vijayanagar district reportedly to show his displeasure over the portfolio allocation, Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai on Wednesday said he would speak to him.
State Congress president D K Shivakumar even tore papers on his table, in protest against the introduction of the bill, which his party called 'draconian and anti-constitution'.
'Invoking 133 (2) of the Karnataka Education Act-1983, which says a uniform style of clothes has to be worn compulsorily. The private school administration can choose a uniform of their choice,' the government order said.
The Congress has raised several questions on the Rafale deal, accusing the government of compromising with national interests.
Apart from being the CM twice earlier, he has won a series of Lok Sabha and assembly elections from the state and headed the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee four times.
The BJP is 'alert and careful' as the chief minister is trying to lure our MLAs using 'power and money', he said.
The Karnataka CM with only 37 JD-S MLAs in the assembly is on shaky ground and overly dependent on the Congress for every decision, reports Bibhu Ranjan Mishra.
In a veiled attack on Narendra Modi-led dispensation, Rahul Gandhi slammed those who were trying to "rub out" Jawaharlal Nehru from history as an international conference on the country's first prime minister affirmed that democracy, inclusion and empowerment espoused by him were of "enduring relevance".
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the Karnataka issue and accused the ruling party of 'poaching' its MLAs in the state.
All eyes are now on Kumar who has to take a call on the resignations tendered by 13 MLAs of the Congress and the JD-S from the assembly.
Suresh Kumar said he was withdrawing his nomination following a direction from the BJP leadership.
JD-S sources read it as an attempt by Modi to sow seeds of doubt in the Opposition ranks.
'The results show that he is the best person to manage individuals in the party.'
"This is an unparalleled and unprecedented win," he said.
This is the first Cabinet expansion after he assumed office on July 26 and proved his government's majority on the floor of the assembly on July 29.
Justice V Gopala Gowda's name has been considered positively by the Trinamul Congress as well as the Left.
The victories with huge margins came as a Diwali gift and a shot in the arm for the nearly six-month-old alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls after facing frequent questions about its longevity.
The development came a day after the Jammu and Kashmir government issued a statement asking political leaders not to visit the Valley.
Grand alliance leaders accuse their rivals of having engineered electoral tactics to confuse its voters.
Where does Basavaraj Bommai stand three months after he assumed the reins of power in Karnataka?
The rapprochement could open the door to an anti-saffron alliance for the 2019 general elections, reports Archis Mohan.
Amid the pandemonium and chaos, which many senior members termed as a "black mark" and "unprecedented" in the House's century old history, it was adjourned sine-die within minutes after it met for the day.
The BJP won 12 of 15 seats on which bypolls were held. Congress could win only two.
