Vajpayee had resigned just 13 days after being in power due to lack of numbers.
There are 18 assembly constituencies in the border district which is a Lingayat stronghold and has been a BJP bastion in the last two decades.
Many in the party feel it has played a critical role in boosting the Congress' electoral fortunes in the state and its impact is there for everyone to see.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu also made a fervent appeal to the leaders of various parties at an all-party meeting to ensure smooth and effective functioning of the House during the Budget Session.
There has been an absolute decline in voters aged between 20 and 39, compared with 2018, and there has been a huge increase in voters aged over 50.
Security was beefed up on Monday a day after a row broke out over the removal of a saffron Hanuman flag from Keragodu village in Mandya, with protests demanding its restoration and the incident sparking a political confrontation between the Congress government and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (Secular).
While Shivakumar is as usual contesting from Kanakapura, Siddaramaiah is returning to his home turf of Varuna in Mysuru district, which is currently represented by his son Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah.
BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, who had stepped down as minister on March 3 following allegations of sexual harassment against him, said on Tuesday that the videos purportedly showing him with a woman were fake and vowed to send the 'conspirators' behind bars.
The Congress-JD-S government slumped into a minority earlier this month following the resignation of several dissident MLAs. Sixteen MLAs from the ruling coalition, including thirteen from Congress and three of the JD-S, have resigned.
BJP leaders said they were mulling moving the Supreme Court in the light of Thursday's developments.
According to several Congress functionaries, Suresh filed his papers as a "backup plan" in the event of the nomination of Shivakumar getting rejected.
However, it fell nine seats short of a majority.
Headed by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, the JD-S has long been a strong third player in the southern state where the Congress and the BJP have been the two main parties.
Siddaramaiah's anti-urban bias, which he does not bother to hide, may become the Congress government's biggest weakness unless it is corrected.
"I have been the chief minister twice with your blessings. I have decided that the 2023 assembly election will be my last fight. It is not for me to come to power or become the chief minister," he said.
Siddaramaiah, who hails from the shepherd Kuruba caste, holds the record for presenting the highest number of Budgets in Karnataka -- 13 so far. He has often spoken about how he was mocked in 1994 before he presented his first Budget. 'Some people asked, "Can he count sheep?",' Siddaramaiah told a regional news channel.
BJP received chunk of the funds at Rs 437.04 crore, while Congress got Rs 26.65 crore.
Communist Party of India-Marxist's acting state secretary and Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener A Vijayaraghavan on Monday said that the Kerala government will have a 21-member cabinet.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said he has given details about the state's stand and facts regarding the raging border dispute with Maharashtra to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is likely to call a meeting of chief ministers of both states next week.
Shivakumar has got the all-important Major and Medium Irrigation and Bengaluru City Development, including the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bangalore Development Authority, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited.
'Why is the entire Cabinet running around in Bangalore?' 'Why are they making arrangements for horse-trading?' 'Is this not the BJP's greed for power?' 'They have won the entire country. Why are they so desperate for Karnataka?'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday claimed that neither the Bharatiya Janata Party nor the Congress would get a majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, while also dismissing the possibility of emergence of a Third Front.
The delay was because the party was not able to finalise the names.
Amid speculation about the number of MLAs supporting him and senior party colleague Siddaramaiah for the post of Karnataka chief minister, state Congress president D K Shivakumar on Monday said his strength is 135, as under his presidency, the party won the said number of seats in the assembly polls.
It should announce its candidates 45 days before the elections; trust rooted leaders; start its campaign focused on five guarantees six months before elections.
'I came to politics accidentally. I became the chief minister accidentally. God gave me the opportunity to become the chief minister twice'
Ruling out any "operation" by the ruling alliance to poach the BJP MLAs, the chief minister said there was no necessity for it and that he was "relaxed."
The BJP released the list a day after its central election committee met to finalise the names of its candidates for the high-stakes election.
The Congress leader later tweeted an apology.
In his concluding remarks at the 'Chintan Shivir' in Udaipur, Gandhi had said that it is only the Congress that can fight the BJP at the national level and regional outfits cannot fight this battle of ideology.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its first list of 189 candidates for the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, fielding Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from his traditional Shiggaon constituency.
The black bands were worn as a mark of protest against the alleged attack on the Constitution of India with the passage of the amended citizenship act by the government, leaders said.
Reacting to the Twitter spat between Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn and Kannada actor Kichcha Sudeep over the use of Hindi, former Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal-Secular leader HD Kumaraswamy, said: "Actor Ajay Devgn is not only hyper in nature but also shows his ludicrous behaviour."
The move is being seen as an attempt to forge opposition unity to defeat the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
AIMIM's Maharashtra unit chief and Aurangabad MP Imtiyaz Jaleel said, "Our party does not support the statement made by Waris Pathan. The party will seek an explanation from him over the remarks."
Ending the suspense about the Hassan seat, the party has fielded H P Swaroop, overlooking JD-S patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda's daughter-in-law Bhavani Revanna, who had been firm on contesting from there.
Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Monday said the party's national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has agreed to campaign and spend time in the state, for the assembly elections next year.
The decision of some key regional parties like the Biju Janata Dal, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the Aam Aadmi Party to skip a key opposition meet called by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the presidential poll has cheered the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as it believes that their absence has only highlighted the faultlines and one-upmanship among its rivals.
The leaders of the two parties have held five rounds of talks since Wednesday to finalise the portfolio sharing arrangement between the partners.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will have an understanding with former prime minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal-Secular for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Friday, an announcement that shot up political temperature in Karnataka.
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