The BJP received a shot in the arm when for the first time its corporator Sunanda Palanethra became Mayor of the city following the collapse of ruling Congress and the JD-S alliance on Wednesday.
Tensions ran high in Gubbi taluk on Saturday as the farmers' protest against the Hemavati Link Canal project escalated into violence, prompting police to register FIRs. It is said that more FIRs are likely to follow.
Reacting to allegations by the opposition that police had not given permission for celebrations, he said, " I don't want to react to any of these BJP guys. I am only answerable to the people of Karnataka and people of the country. All BJP persons are nonsense... They are also the mastermind of these dirty things."
Following a complaint by a police inspector, the case was registered at Cubbon Park station, they said.
The BJP and Congress have already launched spirited campaigns for the elections.
Their resignations came shortly after 21 ministers of coalition partner Congress quit the cabinet.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka had the last laugh as it won all the three Rajya Sabha seats it had contested in, out of total of four from the state that went for polls on Friday, while the Congress managed to win only one of the two seats to which it had fielded its candidates.
Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting, the chief minister also announced a one-man judicial probe, headed by Justice Michael D'Cunha, a retired high court judge of Karnataka, into the tragic incident.
The suspension of 18 Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs from the Karnataka Legislative assembly for six months has been revoked, Speaker U T Khader said on Sunday.
The MLAs, who support the coalition, are staying at the Golfshire Club in the city. Various photos show the politicians performing asanas in different groups. With wooden flooring and huge glass windows, a scenic view is seen outside the room where the MLAs are gathered.
Gowda explained that G T Devegowda intended to say that the JD-S would not oppose every move of BJP just for the heck of it.
Kumaraswamy also ruled out any differences among JD-S MLAs over cabinet berths and allocation of portfolios.
The Lok Sabha constituencies that JD-S will contest are Uttara Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Tumkur, Hassan, Mandya, Bengaluru North and Vijayapura.
The Janata Dal-Secular demanded that the Congress government should sack Khan from the Cabinet for his racist slur.
In a dramatic development, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Minister C P Yogeeshwara on Wednesday quit his party and joined the Congress, which is now expected to field him in the November 13 assembly bypolls from Channapatna.
The court, however, kept the disqualification in suspension for one month, allowing Swamy to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
The Janata Dal Secular convention to discuss the ongoing power tussle in Karnataka started in Bangalore on Thursday. The main speakers are former PM and JD-S supremo H D Deve Gowda, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Home minister Prakash.
JD-S leaders have already dropped enough hints about the party being open to such a possibility.
Siddaramaiah said he was not unhappy about the Congress-JD(S) coalition as was being projected, and there was no doubt about the stability of the government.
Ali said the JD-S did not have a large organisational structure in Uttar Pradesh, which sends most lawmakers to the Parliament.
It is said that Kumaraswamy was in a dilemma, as Nikhil was not keen on contesting but buckled under pressure from party workers.
Senior politician Basavaraj Horatti, who recently resigned as the chairman of Karnataka legislative council and MLC, on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Deve Gowda indicated on Sunday that they were ready to compromise.
The Supreme Court referred to a larger bench the legal issues stemming from a plea of BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, including the question whether a prior sanction to prosecute is needed under the Prevention of Corruption Act after a magisterial court order of inquiry. The questions revolve around the interplay between the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure on the issue of prior sanction to prosecute a public servant.
A message from KCR on Thursday evening persuaded the Congress to take its MLAs to Hyderabad.
"Before January 15 next year, when the election will be one year away, we are planning to select candidates for at least 150 assembly constituencies, so that they can start working," Kumaraswamy told reporters.
The BJP has vehemently criticized the Karnataka government's decision to provide four per cent reservation for Muslims in government contracts, labeling it an "unconstitutional misadventure." The party has pledged to challenge the move in court and has vowed to oppose it at all levels. Meanwhile, the ruling Congress party has defended the reservation, arguing that it aligns with constitutional provisions. The issue has led to heated exchanges in the Karnataka Assembly, with both parties accusing each other of engaging in appeasement politics.
'There were areas where the JD-S put up weak candidates against the Congress to benefit the BJP.'
Beleaguered Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political credibility will be tested by the outcome of the three by-elections. And cries that he must resign will become shriller if the Congress loses them.
The Congress claimed that the BJP was "trying hard" to get their party's MLAs on their side".
A leisure trip to Sri Lanka proved fatal for JD-S workers when the blast took place very close to the dining table as they sat for breakfast at Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, one of the major targets of the deadliest terror strikes in the island nation's history, family members said.
A convincing win for either of JD-S's two chief rivals, the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, in the Karnataka assembly polls, could inevitably lead to a life-threatening split in the JD-S, with several of its leaders joining either of the two national parties.
PGR Scindia, a veteran who had spent over 10 years in the JD-S follows senior leader MP Prakash and quits the party.
While Congress alleged that the ban on arrack by the erstwhile JD - S-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition was responsible for it, the JD-S demanded a probe by the CBI. Thirty five people lost their lives in Bangalore and Kolar on Sunday after drinking poisonous hooch. "I am charging B S Yeddyurappa (BJP leader), the BJP, JD-S.....you are directly responsible for this," Congress leader Janardhana Poojary said.
Fearing poaching from the BJP, the MLAs were moved and expected to be lodged in five-star hotels or resorts.
Two more JD(S) MLAs on Monday quit the party and resigned from assembly membership in Karnataka, dealing a severe blow to former prime minister H D Deve Gowda-led outfit which is struggling to keep its flock together since the May assembly elections.
The crisis staring at the 13-month old government after over a dozen MLAs of the ruling combine quit on Saturday deepened with two Ministers and Independent MLAs -- H Nagesh and R Shankar -- resigning from the ministry and withdrawing their support to the coalition.
'By design or default, the BJP's election strategy militated against the very essence of Karnataka politics and the idea of Karnataka.'
While Prakash has hinted at leaving the JD-S in the past, party chief Deve Gowda seemed unaffected, sarcastically saying that anyone who wanted to join Prakash was welcome to do so.
Cracks in the JD-S were evident when H D Revanna, who is the son of JD-S chief H D Deve Gowda did not go to Rashtrapathi Bhavan where both the JD-S and BJP MLAs were paraded before President Prathibha Patil.
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