The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka headed by B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday won a confidence vote in the assembly 119-0 amid a walkout by the Congress and Independents and a boycott by the Janata Dal - Secular. Law Minister S Suresh Kumar pressed for division of votes, as Congress members trooped out with Independents following suit. The JD-S had earlier announced its decision to boycott the ten-day session.
The number of nominations filed by candidates for the May 5 Assembly elections in Karnataka crossed 2,000 on Tuesday.
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.
Armed with the Wikileaks expose about 2008 trust vote, the Opposition ON Thursday closed ranks in demanding the immediate resignation of the government, contending that it has lost moral right to continue as the country's democracy has been "maligned".
Party members of the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular staged a dharna in the Karnataka legislative assembly on Tuesday, demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the alleged 'kickbacks' received by a trust run by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's sons, in return for Government favours. Congress leader Siddaramaiah also demanded Yeddyurappa's resignation.
The Janata Dal-Secular has put out its first list of candidates for the Karnataka elections 2013. Significantly, the list has three former cops on it.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka on Friday made a clean sweep in the bye-elections held on April 9, winning all the three seats by comfortable margins. The BJP wrested Bangarapet and Jagalur seats from the Congress and Chennapatna from the JD-S
In the much expected exercise that takes the state ministry's strength to the maximum permissible limit of 34, Kumaraswamy inducted three ministers from his party Janata Dal (Secular) and two from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Brushing aside reports of differences between 'third front' partners, Janata Dal-Secular chief H D Deve Gowda on Monday said no one can prevent the emergence of a political "force" against Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party. Gowda said he is closely watching the situation in the country and political compulsions will create a "force" against the Congress and the BJP.
About 55 to 60 per cent voters on Sunday exercised their franchise in the Udupi-Chikmaglur Lok Sabha bye-election where ruling BJP faces a litmus test, locked in a bitter contest with Congress and Janata Dal-Secular.
The new application before the court states that the facts have been jumbled and that Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa had allegedly de-notified only a small portion of the land at Rachenahalli in favour of his family members. However, strangely the name of the HD Kumaraswamy does not figure in the complaint, considering that a major portion of the land was de-notified by him.
The opposition Congress and Janata Dal Secular on Tuesday made a forceful plea in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly against notification of the 2007 Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award, underlining that the move would amount to grave injustice to the State's interests.
Jagadish Shettar was elected as the speaker of the new Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Thursday. Shettar was elected unopposed as both the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular decided against fielding a candidate for the post of Speaker
The Commissioner of Public Instructions has issued a circular making the mandatory singing of the first two stanzas of the national song at 11 am on September seven.
He also announced appointment of another senior leader D Manjunath as chairman of the party's Parliamentary Board and Meerajuddin Patel as chairman of the Political Affairs Committee.
With the party heading towards a smiple majority in Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said it would be a "gross constitutional impropriety" if it is not invited to form the next government in the southern state. Party spokesman Ravi Shanker Prasad said as trends continued to pour in favour of BJP with the saffron party crossing the 100 mark in the 224- member assembly.
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.
A survey conducted by the Karnataka Election Watch, a non-governmental organisation, states that the Bharatiya Janata Party has the highest number of candidates with a criminal background. The BJP tops the list with 13 while the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular come second and third with 9 and 8 candidates respectively.
In more trouble to Karnataka Janata Dal-Secular chief H D Kumaraswamy, the Lokayukta special court on Monday ordered an investigation into a private complaint filed against him alleging illegalities in denotification of government land in 2007 when he was the chief minister.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Wednesday indirectly blamed Governor H R Bhardwaj for delay in the appointment of Lokayukta asserting that the government has followed precedents and the ball was in his court.
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.
Seeking to give a new twist to his ongoing war against the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka over alleged land scams, Janata Dal - Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday claimed Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa had made a vain bid to patch up with him."Two days ago, a right hand man of Yeddyurappa had a telephonic talk (with me) to say the chief minister wanted to strike a compromise with me to end the expose of the misdeeds of his government,"said Kumaraswamy.
The Janata Dal-Secular leader also said that he may move the confidence of motion on May 24.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa said the BJP was demanding early elections because development work in the state has been affected and various welfare schemes have come to a halt.
In a relief for former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, the high court has quashed proceedings initiated against him in connection with two cases. The cases against Kumaraswamy and his wife Anita, also a Janata Dal -Secular member of Legislative Assembly, relate to renewal of mining lease to the Jantakal Mining Firm in violation of norms and alleged irregularities in allotment of sites to Vishwabharathi Housing Cooperative Society.
As Karnataka draws closer to elections, the three major political parties are finalizing the strategy to be adopted in the forthcoming elections.
Accusing Bharatiya Janata Party of attempting 'Operation Kamala' to destabalise his government, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday asserted that they will not be successful in their efforts, as none of the Congress legislators will fall victim to it.
In the midst of opposition protests in Karnataka over the illegal mining issue, Governor H R Bharadwaj on Tuesday met President Pratibha Patil.
Even as Karnataka continues to release water to Tamil Nadu as per the directive of the Cauvery River Waters Authority, all the members of Legislative Assembly from the Janata Dal-Secular have tendered their resignations against this move by the Karnataka government.
In the byelections held on September 13, the BJP's Y C Vishwanath, a medical practitioner, won by over 13,000 votes in Kadur, held earlier by the Congress. But the BJP failed to retain Gulbarga South, with the JD-S candidate Aruna Patil romping home by over 3,000 votes over the Congress's Ajay Singh, son of former chief minister Dharam Singh
Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal-Secular legislators boycotted the governor's address to the joint session of the legislature.
Gowda has hinted that there might be polls held soon in the state.
In the public eye, it seemed as though leaders were talking to each other in person or through the media. In reality, leaders refused to even see eye-to-eye and utilized the services of a mediator to do all the talking. What happened behind the scenes? How did the allies mend the fences? Rediff.com spoke to the official mediators of the JDS and the BJP to find out.
Vishsveshwara Theertha Swami of the Pejawar mutt from the religious Udupi town in coastal Karnataka is trying to broker peace between the Janata Dal-Secular and the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka so that the two parties could get together and form the government.
Here's how some of the heavyweights fared in the Karnataka elections.
The two-day conclave of the Karnataka Janata Dal-Secular that concluded on Tuesday decided against exploring possibilities of forming another government and galvanised the party for mid-term polls.The top leadership has been trying since Monday to placate its agitated MLAs, who have been insisting that efforts be made towards installing a government either with its estranged partner BJP or with the Congress.
The BJP formally withdrew support from the Karnataka government on Sunday, thus reducing the Janata Dal-Secular government, led by Kumaraswamy, to a minority. The BJP met Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur at Raj Bhavan on Sunday to inform him about its decision to withdraw support. The BJP leaders also urged the governor to impose President's rule. Kumaraswamy said that he is ready to face the trust vote on October 18 and added that he is confident of winning.
