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.
Among the three Deputy Chief Ministers are Govind Karjol, who has also been given the charge of PWD and Social welfare; Ashwath Narayan the portfolio of Higher Education, IT & BT, Science and Technology; and Laxman Savadi with Transport department.
Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, Randeep Surjewala and Jairam Ramesh of the Congress and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut were among the 16 candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha from four states where polling was held on Friday after tussle over cross voting and alleged breach of election rules delayed the counting by around eight hours in Maharashtra and Haryana.
'This is not the right way to speak about farmers. How can Kumaraswamy call farmers goondas?'
Congress' Sowmya Reddy secured 54,457 votes against her nearest rival from the BJP.
The ruling party legislators have expressed serious reservations about MLCs not elected by the people being made ministers, lack of representation to certain regions, with most ministers still from Bengaluru and Belagavi districts and also on their 'seniority or sacrifice' not being considered.
As the political turmoil lingered on with the ruling coalition making frenetic efforts to win back rebels who have pushed it to the brink of collapse, assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar on Monday announced the confidence motion sought to be moved by Kumaraswamy would be taken up at 11 am on July 18.
All eyes are now on Kumar who has to take a call on the resignations tendered by 13 MLAs of the Congress and the JD-S from the assembly.
Unfazed by Yeddyurappa's unceremonious exit, the BJP on Thursday fielded its senior leader S Suresh Kumar, a fifth term MLA, for the post of the Speaker whose election will precede the trust vote.
'The BJP is using all the central agencies at its disposal (to undermine us).' 'We are also taking care that our MLAs are not poached.'
The Congress said that a chief minister "has to be always happy".
Mulyama's remarks came against the backdrop of marathon meetings Congress' poll strategist Prashant Kishor had with him in Delhi and Lucknow.
Here's how Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders reacted after the Supreme Court ordered for a floor test in Karnataka on Saturday.
Asserting he will abide by rules, the speaker said he will take a "just decision which may be of convenience to some and inconvenience to some."
Radhika Ramaseshan reports on why the Karnataka chief minister risked crossing swords with his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and its ideological wellspring, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
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.
The BJP and Congress have already launched spirited campaigns for the elections.
Several loyal party old guards were unhappy and had expressed their displeasure openly about "migrants" scuttling the chances of them becoming ministers.
The Congress urged Chief Justice Dipak Misra to hold an urgent hearing on Wednesday night itself.
Yediyurappa said he would decide on members to be inducted into the ministry after consulting party president Amit Shah.
This will be the fourth stint for Yeddyurappa as the chief minister -- the last one was after the May 2018 assembly polls.
B Y Vijayendra said power and position itself are not the ultimate objectives in politics.
Kumaraswamy predicted that the political instability would continue in the state.
The launch of a new party by former Karnataka minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy has spiced up the poll scene in parts of state.
The 13 month-old Karnataka coalition government of JD-S and Congress slumped into crisis following the resignation of their 11 MLAs from the membership of the state assembly on Saturday.
According to Congress sources, few ministers from the party have even offered to step down in the larger interest and to keep the coalition intact.
The party managed only 52 seats on its own and many of its top leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Jyotiraditya Scindia were defeated in the polls.
Droupadi Murmu scripted history on Thursday by becoming India's first tribal President in the one-sided contest, defeating Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.
Facing a truncated strength caused by the en masse resignation of 16 ruling coalition MLAs, Kumaraswamy moved a one-line motion, saying the House expressed confidence in the 14-month old ministry headed by him.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday expanded his 17-month old cabinet, inducting seven ministers, and indicated that excise minister H Nagesh would be dropped. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan.
Yediyurappa is made of sterner stuff and is not going to yield so easily.
The Election Commission on Thursday said it will take 'immediate consequential steps' on bypolls to 15 Karnataka assembly seats after studying the order of the Supreme Court.
Rahul said that an atmosphere of fear has been prevailed in the country.
'Already, the BJP treats the Constitution like the unpopular old uncle at the party, whom everyone pays lip service to and then proceeds to ignore,' says Mitali Saran.
Siddaramaiah asserted that the Karnataka government was a 'strong' one and ridiculed state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa for repeatedly claiming that the coalition will collapse.
The BJP won 12 of 15 seats on which bypolls were held. Congress could win only two.
Nikhil, son of former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, tied the nuptial knot with Revathi, the grand-niece of former Karnataka housing minister M Krishnappa. The marriage was solemnised at Kumaraswamy's Kethaganahalli farmhouse at Bidadi in the neighbouring Ramanagara district, a JD-S stronghold.
Congress and RJD are single largest parties in Goa and Bihar respectively.
Congress's K R Ramesh Kumar will be the speaker of Karnataka's Vidhana Soudha (assembly), while the deputy speaker will be appointed from the JD-S.
The incident occurred late Saturday night at the resort where the Congress MLAs are hunkered down since Friday in a move to keep the flock together against alleged bid to topple the ruling coalition by BJP, according to Congress sources.
