The Karnataka BJP core committee had proposed only Tejaswini's name for the Lok Sabha seat, but Tejaswi Surya emerged the dark horse.
The Congress unit described Ramesh's suicide an outcome of "targeted harassment" of their rank and cadre to keep them away from the party.
The Election Commission on Thursday said it will take 'immediate consequential steps' on bypolls to 15 Karnataka assembly seats after studying the order of the Supreme Court.
Second-line AIADMK leaders and cadres alike say that by starting the talks first with the BJP and committing the party to an alliance without discussing seat-sharing, the leadership might have commenced the coalition discourse at the wrong end. According to them, even 20 seats for the BJP may be too many, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The ULB polls were also considered as indicative of the voters' mood before the next Lok Sabha elections.
While some would give the BJP full marks for starting early in the only state in the south where it stands a chance, the 'party with a difference' has fallen back on a tainted leader.
However, the MLA, who was upset at not being made a minister, said he will go by the instructions of his voters and supporters on accepting the saffron party's offer.
Yeddyurappa told reporters that an inquiry had found the documents, cited by Surjewala, as 'fake' and threatened to file a defamation case.
Will Priyanka contest against Modi in Varanasi? Will Rahul also contest from Karnataka? Rasheed Kidwai -- Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party's biographer -- reveals what is churning in the Congress.
The ruling coalition had held out the threat of using the Whip against the wayward MLAs, citing the disqualification provision under the anti-defection law.
While the DMK fears that the Congress with its poor strike rate will pull it down in the 2021 state elections, like it did five years ago, the ruling AIADMK is worried that the BJP may ultimately do a Bihar on it, relegating it to second place in Tamil Nadu, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Nagaraj reached Mumbai accompanied by Karnataka BJP president B S Yeddyurappa's personal assistant Santosh and BJP MLA R Ashok.
According to Congress sources, few ministers from the party have even offered to step down in the larger interest and to keep the coalition intact.
"K C Venugopal is a buffoon, I feel sorry for him, I feel sorry for my leader Sri Rahul Gandhi ji," Baig told reporters.
"I'm an emotional person, but it is not my helplessness. Did I shed tears at a government programme? As chief minister I have worked towards implementing programmes strongly," he said.
The court struck down the portion of the Speaker's order by which the legislators were disqualified till the end of the 15th Karnataka assembly.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council K S Eshwarappa alleged that the government has 'misused' the office of the President by getting Tipu's name mentioned in the speech.
With the cabinet expansion being deferred repeatedly, several aspirants, especially those from Congress, had openly expressed their displeasure over the delay, piling pressure on the party to fill its quota so as to avoid any trouble ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Sridevi talks about living a life marked by wellness and the secret to her beautiful skin and perfect body.
Sources said while the Janata Dal-Secular will have nine new ministers, the Congress will have nearly 12 of its legislators inducted into the cabinet. Lone Bahujan Samaj Party MLA N Mahesh will also be a part of the cabinet expansion and will be given a key portfolio.
The speaker said he would take a decision on the remaining 14 cases in a "couple of days."
In a counter offensive after 13 MLAs resigned on Saturday dealing a blow to the 13-month-old government, a delegation of Congress leaders met Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar and submitted the petition seeking, under the anti-defection law, disqualification of the rebel legislators in line with the decision taken at a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party on Tuesday.
Barely a week after Infosys co-founder and Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India Nandan Nilekani made known his intentions of fighting the elections he is facing opposition from within the Congress party.
Slogans of 'Rahul ji, we are with you' and 'Please do not resign' rang through the air.
The Shiv Sena has spurned Congress' request to participate in the bandh.
The CM met M B Patil, a prominent Congress leader under whose leadership a section of dissatisfied MLAs have been holding meetings.
Making his wealth public a day before stepping into the fray, Infosys co-founder and Congress candidate from Bangalore South, Nandan Nilekani has declared that he and his wife Rohini Nilekani have assets worth Rs 7,700 crore.
As doctors treat Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, a different daily drama takes place outside the Apollo Hospitals gates.
Turmoil over Telangana statehood and a variety of other issues paralysed proceedings in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday prompting a comment from the Chair that he was "disturbed" and "disappointed" over lack of consensus to run the House.
Fourteen ministers are from the Congress, nine from its ruling coalition partner Janata Dal-Secular and one each from the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party.
Reaching out to present and former employees of the defence PSU at an interaction with them, Gandhi said, work done by HAL for the country was tremendous and the country owed debt to it for "protecting us" and creating a scientific vision.
As the House resumed its sitting an hour late, the Speaker made it clear, "The debate should start now. Everybody is watching us. Please don't make me a scapegoat. Let us reach our goal," stressing that the process should reach finality on Monday.
Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar spent Monday outside the Apollo hospital, Chennai, along with hundreds of AIADMK supporters praying for Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's health.
If the Cauvery water-sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu -- dating back to 1892 between the erstwhile Madras Presidency under the British Raj and the princely Mysore state -- has exploded again into a war, the discord between Karnataka and Goa over dividing the water of the Mahadayi river simmers under the surface.
The speaker told Kumaraswamy that "this (SIT) should not lead to a witch-hunt. The probe should be only to establish the truth."
With one year left for assembly elections in Karnataka, the last big bastion of the Congress, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has found an emotive issue to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party as the latter prepares the ground for a fight to grab power. Raghu Krishnan and Nikita Puri report.
The Congress, in its application termed the governor's action as a "brazen unconstitutional" act to appoint "a junior MLA as the pro tem speaker.
Elections in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will see the BJP and Congress in direct contest.
Failure to deliver on governance, corruption allegations, preoccupation with Lok Sabha and gram panchayat polls and factionalism have weakened Siddaramaiah's government in Karnataka. This may well hand the BJP a chance to make a comeback in the state, says Raghu Krishnan.
Mallikarjun Kharge may be a respected politician and a loyal Congressman, but he is not a great orator nor does he have exceptional debating skills. Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com reports
