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.
Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda led Janata Dal-Secular, which had hoped to play the role of a kingmaker in Karnataka, on Wednesday said it would sit in the opposition.
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.
Party chief H D Kumaraswamy told media persons, "If my party does not get majority, we will not form an alliance with anyone. I would rather sit in opposition than being a part of a coalition government."
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.
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.
As Karnataka draws closer to elections, the three major political parties are finalizing the strategy to be adopted in the forthcoming elections.
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.
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.
In the midst of opposition protests in Karnataka over the illegal mining issue, Governor H R Bharadwaj on Tuesday met President Pratibha Patil.
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 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.
There is no mention of Kolar, the second seat from where senior party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, wants to contest, in addition to Varuna, where his name is already cleared.
The move came following the hour-long meeting of the party in Bangalore, necessitated by the Janata Dal-Secular's refusal to hand over power as promised on October 3.
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.
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.
Continuing his tirade against Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, Janata Dal-Secular state unit President H D Kumaraswamy on Monday dubbed him the "most corrupt chief minister" of Karnataka.
Congress has criticised Janata Dal Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy, son of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, after the former revealed that his father was offered a bribe for defence deals. Congress spokesperson Renuka Chaudhary questioned why the statement by Kumaraswamy was being aired in the media after over a decade.
Hassan seat, has become a bone of contention, as Gowda's daughter-in-law Bhavani Revanna, who has thrown her hat in the ring, has not relented, despite her brother-in-law Kumaraswamy, repeatedly making it clear that she will not be fielded, and instead a 'loyal party worker' will enter the fray.
The BJP state unit is banking on the party's central leadership to shore up its prospects in the May 10 assembly polls as it fights anti-incumbency.
The BJP presented a surplus, farmer friendly budget for Rs 18.85 crore for the year 2008-09. Emphasis was also given to Bengaluru city with Rs 36,000 crore being allocated for infrastructure development. In his budget speech, Yeddyurappa said that the main intention was to improve the image of Bengaluru and put it on the global map. For this to take place the development of infrastructure was the key.
A Janata Dal-Secular corporator was shot dead by unidentified persons at Banashankari area of Bengaluru on Sunday, the police said.
BSR Party chief Sriramulu has claimed that he has the support of over 20 BJP MLAs. He would need just ten MLAs from the BJP to cross vote in order to defeat Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Battling allegations of corruption and nepotism, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday said he would soon release "documentary evidence" on scams during the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular regimes in the state.
On being branded as a party of Lingayats, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said in North Karnataka, other parties were trying to give his party this image. "However, this is untrue and the distribution of tickets, especially in Bangalore, will prove that wrong. Most of our candidates are from the Vokkaliga and Reddy community and hence branding the BJP as a party of Lingayats is not correct," he added.
Moves are being made by senior leaders of Janata Dal (Secular) for his expulsion from the party.
Suspected Janata Dal-Secular supporters attacked the residence of a key aide of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa after he made allegations of land-grabbing against the former prime minister and their party chief H D Deve Gowda
'Some of his ministers have performed abysmally, and Bommai has faced an unwanted campaign of religious polarisation imposed by national BJP leaders.'
This time, aspiring candidates are presenting neat applications. A bio-data, running into a minimum of four pages and mentioning all their credentials, letters of recommendation and several papers mentioning their loyalty towards their respective party. However, in Karnataka, at least this time, it is very evident that the elections are going to be fought mainly on the caste factor.
The Nationalist Congress Party has claimed all the 28 Congress corporators in Malegaon city in Maharashtra's Nashik district, including the mayor, crossed over to the party on Thursday.
A day before counting of votes polled in the Karnataka assembly elections, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress on Friday went into a huddle and held strategy sessions on ways to keep their flock together.
The Congress and Janata Dal-Secular are wooing Muslim voters with extravagant promises.
The star campaigner of the The Bharatiya Janata Party, B S Yeddyurappa, who is hoping to capitalise on public sympathy after the Janata Dal-Secular did him in within seven days of taking charge as chief minister, has said his party will provide free power to farmers who own irrigation pump sets up to 10 horse power in the 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.
Siddaramaiah said his main task was to bring the Congress back to power in the state.
After the expansion, the second by the coalition government, the strength of the ministry rose to 30.
Janata Dal-Secular president and former prime minister H D Dewa Gowda has dissolved the Kerala committee of the party led by veteran leader and former Member of Parliament M P Veerendrakumar.While Veerendrakumar alleged that Gowda has dissolved the state committee in accordance with the wishes of Kerala Communist Party of India-Marxist secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, Gowda claimed that he had never even met Vijayan.