Suspected Janata Dal-Secular supporters attacked the residence of a key aide of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa after he made allegations of land-grabbing against the former prime minister and their party chief H D Deve Gowda
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the proposal for the candidature of Yadav and Jabbar, the All India Congress Committee said in a release.
The BJP leadership knows it can't boast of governance in the state as the Bommai government has little to show. So, the game plan is to project Modi, who will reiterate how important it is for a state to have the same party ruling in power at the Centre, observes Ramesh Menon.
Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda led Janata Dal-Secular, which had hoped to play the role of a kingmaker in Karnataka, on Wednesday said it would sit in the opposition.
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."
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday charted out a bigger role for his son and Bharatiya Janata Party state vice-president B Y Vijayendra to make a dent into the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular citadel in old Mysuru region.
Amid the raging controversy regarding Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, the Vokkaliga chieftains who according to a section allegedly killed erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan, a prominent seer of the community on Monday urged putting an end to the issue, citing lack of historical evidence in this regard.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Mandya to inaugurate the 10-lane Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway, independent MP Sumalatha Ambareesh on Friday extended her complete support to the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre.
Amid speculations of Operation Hasta' going on in Karnataka to woo Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to join the Congress, former BJP minister B C Patil and ex-MLA Narasimha Naik met Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar during the birthday party of noted Kannada film actor Sudeep Sanjeev, who is popularly known as Sudeep.
M P Veerendrakumar, former state president of the Janata Dal - Secular, who quit the party following differences of opinion with the Communist party of India - Marxist over the allocation of Lok Sabha seats, has lashed out at his former ally.Veerendrakumar, who is also the managing director of leading daily Mathrubhumi, stated that the CPI-M leadership has become pro-capitalism and alleged that the party was trying to promote five-star hotels.
Political temperatures were soaring in several states that could see close contests, with parties trying to keep their flock together and trading accusations of poaching of MLAs.
"The Congress have gone and made promises in Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh that they never fulfilled," Rajeev Chandrasekhar claimed.
'There is a conscious move by the BJP to distance itself from the current state leadership.'
The list does not include Jagadish Shettar who met BJP president J P Nadda earlier in the day to stake his claim to contest from his Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency.
Shankar went to Karnataka Legislative Council chairman Basavaraj Horatti's office and tendered his hand-written resignation.
Vast experience in running the government and mass appeal across the state have favoured Siddaramaiah in the tightly contested race for Karnataka chief minister.
'There cannot be an alliance with Congress that does not honour the coalition dharma'
Chandrappa's appointment follows the demise of KPCC working president and former MP R Dhruvanarayana.
With the Bihar government releasing the findings of its caste survey, pressure seems to be mounting on the Karnataka government, especially within the ruling Congress, to make the state's Socio-economic and Educational Census, popularly known as the 'caste census', public.
According to Congress, the five schemes are 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).
The Janata Dal - Secular on Monday released its first list of 64 candidates for the first phase of Assembly polls on May 10, nominating former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and his elder brother H D Revanna to contest again from Ramanagara and Holenarasipura seats, respectively. Former ministers who secured nominations include N Cheluvarayaswamy (Nagamangala), B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan (Chamarajpet) and H K Kumaraswamy (Sakleshpur-reserved).
'We will win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2024.'
Senior JD-S leader G T Deve Gowda has shown interest in joining the BJP. Gowda said there was no freedom in the JD-S with H D Deve Gowda heading it.
While all political parties in Karnataka have entered into poll mode, the Janata Dal-Secular, a key player is yet to sort out plenty of problems with the rebels in the party getting more rebellious.
Here is a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the two aspiring CMs.
The day began with the Congress meeting with Governor Rameshwar Thakur and telling him that they did not intend supporting any party in the state and had no intention of forming the government.
The Janata Dal-Secular said it will transfer power to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka only if it acts against Tourism Minister, B Sriramulu. The 2 parties formed the govt with an understanding Kumaraswamy will hand over power to BJP on Oct 3.
A day before counting of votes polled in the Karnataka assembly elections, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress on Friday went into a huddle and held strategy sessions on ways to keep their flock together.
The meeting will take place at Krishna, the chief minister's official residence on Saturday at 8 am.
The bill seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.
The Congress and JD-S have made much of Amit Shah's remarks about milk co-operatives. 'If the Opposition harps on the statement, it could add to the narrative that Gujarat was trying to take over Karnataka.'
He said he will be soon taking a decision on his political future and wants to contest the assembly polls from Kunigal seat.
The current public mood is that it will be a hung assembly. No one, not even in the BJP, is talking about even a simple majority for the party.
'The wife will not only abuse her husband for giving her less money, but also abuse the government.' 'Look at the price of a cooking gas cylinder, it is Rs 1,200.'
Despite improving its tally by 12 seats in Karnataka, the poll verdict indicates that the Janata Dal-Secular will have to stay out of power for the next five years. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
None of the major political parties in Karnataka have announced their list of candidates despite the elections being barely a month away. The two major parties -- Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are both facing dissidence within their ranks. This has delayed the process of finalizing candidates for the polls.
Lingayats are said to constitute about 17 per cent of Karnataka's population, and the community has dominance in as many as 100 out of total 224 constituencies, majority of these seats being in north Karnataka region.
Modi's BJP has promised more revdis or freebies for these assembly elections than ever before, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Polling for 16 Rajya Sabha seats in four states will be held on Friday amid allegations of attempts at horse-trading by rival parties which have corralled their MLAs in hotels and scenic resorts, prompting the Election Commission to appoint special observers and order videography of the entire exercise.
Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar arrived in New Delhi on Friday to discuss with the party's high command the names of ministers to be inducted into the new cabinet and the allocation of portfolios.