Stepping up its attack on the alleged land scandals, opposition Janata Dal - Secular on Monday accused Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa of denotifying some land in Bengaluru in violation of court rulings and levelled bribery charges against him. Former chief minister and state JD-S president H D Kumaraswamy alleged that Yeddyurappa had denotified more than five acres acquired by the Bangalore Development Authority for a layout at Nagarbhavi.
There seems to be a wave of uncertainity in the state of Karnataka on whether JD-S will hand over power to its coalition partner, the BJP on October 3.
Speaker Ramesh Kumar said the motion of confidence would reach finality on Monday and it would not be prolonged further under any circumstances, to which the government agreed.
'Then all the usual troubles will break out.'
Five candidates were in the fray for the four seats in the elections, including Janata Dal-Secular contestant D Kupendra Reddy.
One more rape case has been registered against Janata Dal-Secular MP and Lok Sabha poll candidate from Hassan Prajwal Revanna, taking the number of cases pertaining to the alleged sexual abuse of several women to three, police sources said.
He said, according to the party constitution, a 3-member enquiry committee would be set up, which after going through their (suspended MLAs) replies to the notice.
Former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy claimed on Tuesday that he was not in touch with his nephew Prajwal.
Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa will be up against Geetha Shivrajkumar, the daughter-in-law of actor Dr Rajkumar and daughter of former chief minister S Bangarappa. Vicky Nanjappa reports
JD-S leaders are in constant touch with several candidates of both the Congress and the BJP and are hopeful that these candidates would agree to join their party. The Congress and the BJP have recently pocketed several JD-S candidates and now Deve Gowda's party has the opportunity to return the favour. To tackle the JD-S, the Congress is trying to delay the announcement of its final list, while the BJP is trying to downplay the widespread resentment among its party members.
The 42nd additional chief metropolitan magistrate court had on June 12 remanded him to the custody of the Special Investigation Team, which is probing the cases against him, till June 18.
The JD-S says that it will go all out to woo voters and will also send a strong message across, to explain that the party is not guilty of creating the biggest political turmoil in the state. While other political parties have already started canvassing, the JD-S has been taking its time. Its opponents, specially the BJP, claim that Deve Gowda's party was delaying its campaigning as it was scared to face the people after bringing two successive governments down.
It was a hectic day in the political circles of Bangalore on Sunday with a crucial JD-S legislature party meeting being followed by a meeting between Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and JD-S leader H D Kumaraswamy. The JDLP meeting decided to wait a few more hours to see whether the BJP will agree to its conditions. The BJP has already expressed its unwillingness to sign on the dotted line dictated by the JD-S.
'There is no problem to the government. It will complete (its tenure). You get tensed due to reports in media. It is not like that. '
The Janata Dal (Secular) has offered to join the National Democratic Alliance, provided the BJP allows H D Kumaraswamy continue as Karnataka chief minister for the next 20 months.
A day after he defied the party whip and voted in favour of the United Progressive Alliance government's confidence motion, Janata Dal-Secular MP Shivanna was on Wednesday expelled from the party. JD-S secretary general Danish Ali told PTI that steps have been initiated to disqualify him from the Lok Sabha and a letter was being sent to the speaker in this regard.
The Karnataka state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to be more assertive in their approach to put to an end the free run of their coalition partner the Janata Dal-Secular.
Both the BJP and the Congress have been making hectic efforts to rope in Prakash, who hails from the dominant Lingayat community, to its fold along with his supporters.
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.
The BJP is 'alert and careful' as the chief minister is trying to lure our MLAs using 'power and money', he said.
On May 18, the Special Court for Elected Representatives issued an arrest warrant against Prajwal Revanna, following an application moved by the SIT.
While Wadiyar, scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family, is making his political debut from the Mysore Lok Sabha segment, Lakshmana is state Congress spokesperson and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's confidant.
They have been asked to appear before SIT for investigation, they said.
Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has equated the manifesto of his party, the Janata Dal-Secular, for the upcoming Karnataka assembly election to a Bhagwad Gita, Quran and the Bible.
The former chief minister also sought to distance JD-S's alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the case, amid attacks by the ruling Congress seeking their response on the issue.
He also cautioned political leaders about making public statements or sharing information in connection with the case, which is sensitive.
Prajwal Revanna, the suspended Janata Dal-Secular MP facing sexual abuse allegations, was arrested on Friday upon his return from Germany, a month after he left the country in the wake of explicit videos of his alleged actions doing the rounds in Karnataka's Haasan.
The leaders of the two parties have held five rounds of talks since Wednesday to finalise the portfolio sharing arrangement between the partners.
Kumaraswamy alleged that 25,000 pen drives were distributed in the entire state, and cited a report in a regional daily to support his claim.
The MP who is seeking re-election from Hassan on a JD-S ticket, shared a letter by his lawyer Arun G to the Deputy Superintendent of Police of the SIT, in which he has sought seven days' time to appear before the official because he is abroad.
"I will personally on Friday, May 31 at 10 am will come before the SIT and will cooperate with the investigation and will respond to it (charges). I have faith in court and I am confident I will come out of false cases through court," Pajwal said in a video statement aired on Kannada TV channel Asianet Suvarna News.
Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
He flew down to Mumbai as a Congress troubleshooter with a mission to save the wobbly coalition government in Karnataka, but minister D K Shivakumar hardly found any support from the Maharashtra unit of his party in his task and was sent packing to his home state.
All candidates hoping for a Janata Dal-Secular ticket to contest the elections in Karnataka will now have to pass an examination carried out by none other than party chief and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda.
Both the BJP and the Congress have their share of challenges, with finding winning horses on top of this list.
Karnataka Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara on Thursday said a lookout circular has been issued to arrest Hassan Janata Dal-Secular MP Prajwal Revanna who is facing allegations of sexually abusing women.
Questioning Bharatiya Janata Party's locus standi to make such a demand, he asked the opposition party as to why it doesn't trust the police.
"The split will have no impact on the party. Alternative arrangements are being made to head the party in places where some of our party leaders resigned", he said.
It was a decision waiting to be taken officially. Senior Janata Dal-Secular leader M P Prakash on Wednesday quit the party.
Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.