Former Karnataka chief minister H d Kumaraswamy's entry into the Chikkaballapur constituency will make the going tough for his opponent, and Union minister and former chief minister Veerappa Moily, who had won the 2009 election from here comfortably, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
As the second phase of polling commenced on Thursday amid heightened security, bigwigs came out to cast their votes for constituting the 17th Lok Sabha. Among those who took to their respective polling booths were former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth, BJP candidate from Bengaluru South Tejasvi Surya, and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, among others.
Former prime minister and JD-S chief H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday said he will pay Rs 54 lakh dues to the Indian Air Force, which has approached the Delhi High Court to recover the money.
It said the apex court order "whittles down" the power of a political party to issue whip to its MLAs as it has a constitutional right to do so and the court can't restrict that.
In true Karnataka political style, which cuts across parties and loyalties, any reinstatement of Yeddiyurappa, even with adequate legislative majority, could trigger rebellion from within, which could embarrass the Modi-Shah duo than any other development elsewhere in the country, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The state government has plunged into a crisis after 14 dissident MLAs -- 11 from the Congress and three from the Janaat Dal-Secular -- resigned and two independents withdrew support.
The presentation of the Interim General Budget for 2009-10 was on Monday interrupted briefly as the Lok Sabha adjourned after JD(S) member M P Veerendrakumar complained of uneasiness.
With opinion polls predicting a hung assembly in Karnataka and the possibility that the JD-S could be the 'king maker' after the polls, H D Deve Gowda stays mum about his party's post-election strategy.
The ruling Congress was on Tuesday ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the taluk panchayat and zilla panchayat elections in Karnataka as the two parties were locked in a keen contest.
A down-to-the-wire contest is likely in some of the seats in the high-stakes Rajya Sabha elections in seven states, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana, where the fate of candidates including senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal and senior lawyer R K Anand is being decided on Saturday.
The CPI-M is upbeat in its quest to form a Third Front and struck a pre-poll alliance with the BJD in Orissa within a day after the ruling state party snapped ties with longtime ally BJP.
Though Congress, BJP and JD-S are harping that the elections would be fought under the collective leadership, each party has already propped up one of its prominent leaders as the star campaigner.
JD(S) will help them build a competing app, which, will work on a cooperative model, where drivers will own the app and will decide prices which the customers will have to pay
The Chikkaballapura MLA tweeted: "Personally I am confused why the issue of EVM manipulation is being brought into conversation while talking about the exit poll results.
They are also likely to demand a second round of cabinet expansion soon.
The development came a day after the Jammu and Kashmir government issued a statement asking political leaders not to visit the Valley.
In a move aimed at consolidation of opposition forces, six constituents of the erstwhile 'Janata Parivar' will soon become one party as their leaders on Thursday authorised Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav to work out the "modalities" in that direction.
It was a black Monday as a Janata Dal-Secular rally in Bengaluru wrecked havoc for motorists on the streets. People were stranded on the streets for over five hours thanks to the JD-S convention which was held at the Palace Grounds in Bangalore on Monday.
The counting will begin at 8 am, and as per the Election Commission's COVID-19 guidelines, a candidate, his poll agent and counting agent can remain present in the counting hall, officials said, adding various measures have been taken to ensure social distancing and avoid crowding.
He also said the expansion of his cabinet would take place once state Congress leaders get an approval from their high command.
Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda, who was camping in Hassan in Karnataka in violation of the Election Commission's code of conduct, was forced to leave the town by electoral authorities. Acting on the basis of a tip off about Gowda's presence, defying the EC directive to leaders of political parties to stay away from constituencies, barring its candidates, Returning Officer Subbaraya Kamat rushed to the spot where the JDS leader was staying and asked him to move out.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader B S Yediyurappa will lead BJP-JD-S legislators before President Prathiba Patil in New Delhi on Tuesday. Stating that during the meeting with the President, Congress' anti-democratic attitude would be exposed, Yediyurappa also alleged that the Congress was leaving no stone unturned to thwart the installation of a BJP-led coalition government in Karnataka.
Two years after the then JD(S)-BJP government announced the cart-and-bullock scheme for the farming community, the State Executive Committee headed by Governor Rameshwar Thakur gave a silent burial to the scheme last week after stopping short of branding it a 'complete failure'.
What does election data say about the electoral support the competing parties in Karnataka have? Abhishek Waghmare find out.
The JD-S led by former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, who is known for visiting temples across the country and performing ceremonies of various kinds to reap divine blessing, is at it once again. Gowda engaged a team of priests and performed special ceremonies, including night-long homam, to propitiate gods and to bestow power to his party and particularly his son, former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, to occupy the chair he lost last year.
With assembly elections in Karnataka round the corner, senior Congress leader S M Krishna on Wednesday resigned as Maharashtra Governor after the party asked him to take the plunge in the fight against a resurgent BJP and a well-rooted JD(S). Krishna, a former Chief Minister, met President Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhawan and conveyed his decision to resign after just over three years in the gubernatorial post in Mumbai. A little later, he sent his resignation.
