Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde's sudden resignation has come as a shock to the state and an embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party government, which is incidentally gearing up for grand celebrations on Friday marking two years in office.
This motion is in keeping with a directive by Governor T N Chaturvedi to him on January 28, to prove his majority within eight days of assuming office.
Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Monday flayed Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's rejection of his demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into ruling Bharattiya Janata Party's allegation that he and his family had amassed illegal wealth of Rs 1,500 crore.
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
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.
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 Janata Dal-Secular in Karnataka said on Sunday that Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa was responsible for the "instability" of the BJP government and not the opposition. "The chief minister himself is responsible for the instability of his government and not the opposition parties," JDS state unit president H D Kumaraswamy said while participating in a function here.
According to party sources, the Congress leadership has been making efforts to convince some ministers and lawmakers to contest, as they have faced problems in identifying winnable candidates in several segments.
Moves are being made by senior leaders of Janata Dal (Secular) for his expulsion from the party.
Janata Dal - Secular chief H D Deve Gowda on Thursday sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention into the alleged illegal mining situation in Karnataka, especially Bellary district, where he alleged that the 'mining mafia was ruling the roost'. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Gowda allleged that there was 'no semblance of rule of law especially in Bellary district' and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government of being 'a mute spectator'
Was C M Ibrahim's Rediff Interview the last straw for Deve Gowda?
Former Karnataka chief minister and state Janata Dal-Secular president H D Kumraswamy on Monday hit out at Bharatiya Janata Party strongman B S Yeddyurappa for 'indulging in theatrics' over the drought situation in Karnataka.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the disqualification of Janata Dal-Secular MLA D C Gowrishankar Swamy from the Tumkur Rural constituency in Karnataka and allowed him to contest the upcoming assembly polls in the southern state.
Both the BJP and the Congress have been making hectic efforts to rope in Prakash, who hails from the dominant Lingayat community, to its fold along with his supporters.
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.
Triggering a heated debate over her candidature, actress Hema Malini on Monday entered the fray from Karnataka for the lone Rajya Sabha seat, even as the opposition joined hands to support noted writer K Marulasiddappa for the position.
The BJP has less than five months to straighten things out to taken on the Lingayat strongman in the May 2013 elections, says Aditi Phadnis
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.
In its exit poll released after the voting on May 10, India Today-Axis My India predicted a clear majority for the Congress with 122-140 seats and gave the BJP 62-80 seats. It gave 20-25 seats to the JD-S.
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.
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.
Raising doubts about the longevity of the Siddaramaiah-led new Congress government in Karnataka, Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday said its future is dependent on the results of the 2024 Parliament elections.
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
Both the BJP and the Congress have their share of challenges, with finding winning horses on top of this list.
Janata Dal-Secular leader and former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy expressed confidence on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party rebels will align with him and vote against the state governmment during the crucial floor test on October 11.
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.
Siddaramaiah said his main task was to bring the Congress back to power in the state.
As Karnataka draws closer to elections, the three major political parties are finalizing the strategy to be adopted in the forthcoming elections.
BJP let Yeddyurappa get away with indiscretions as it did not want to rock the boat in Karnataka, says Aditi Phadnis
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.
Celebrations on New Year's Day should last only till 1 am, Health Minister K Sudhakar said.
The first Karnataka legislative assembly session, after the formation of the new government will be held on starting Monday next week in Bengaluru.
Janata Dal - Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday ended his two-day-old 'indefinite' fast to demand a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's allegation that he and his family had amassed illegal wealth worth Rs 1,500 crore. Kumaraswamy was offered a glass of fruit juice by Jnanapeetha Awardee U R Ananthamurthy at Freedom Park after the latter urged him to withdrew the fast, which the JD-S leader accepted.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has plenty to smile about, after it swept the elections to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike or the Bengaluru Municipal Corporation which had remained dissolved for three years.
Gowda has hinted that there might be polls held soon in the state.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha, who is in charge of party affairs in Karnataka, briefed the top party leadership about the crisis in the state following the suspension of talks between the BJP and JD (S) abt the impending power transfer
The Karnataka state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to be more assertive in their approach to put to an end the free run of their coalition partner the Janata Dal-Secular.
The former prime minister said that he will take a decision about transferring power to the BJP after meeting top party leaders on September 27.
When the two parties formed the government, they mutually agreed that the Janata Dal (Secular) will hand over power to the BJP on October 3, 2007.
JD-S leaders are in constant touch with several candidates of both the Congress and the BJP and are hopeful that these candidates would agree to join their party. The Congress and the BJP have recently pocketed several JD-S candidates and now Deve Gowda's party has the opportunity to return the favour. To tackle the JD-S, the Congress is trying to delay the announcement of its final list, while the BJP is trying to downplay the widespread resentment among its party members.
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