Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting individuals involved in voter deletion and election rigging, citing data from Karnataka and Maharashtra.
He also promised to give free electricity, quality education in government schools and good healthcare for the state's people.
The three seats fell vacant following the resignations of Baburao Chinchansur, R Shankar and Laxman Savadi to contest the assembly elections.
The Supreme Court declined to entertain a plea seeking a special investigation team (SIT) probe into alleged electoral roll manipulation in Bengaluru Central and other constituencies, advising the petitioner to approach the Election Commission of India.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated his vote theft allegations and criticized the Election Commission for demanding an affidavit to support his claims. He alleged collusion between the EC and BJP to steal the Lok Sabha election and called for investigation into election irregularities.
Several BJP and JD-S leaders joining the Congress ahead of the May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka is an evidence to prove that public sentiment is in favour of the party and it will come to power, its state unit President D K Shivakumar said on Monday.
The Karnataka legislative assembly on Wednesday witnessed chaotic and unruly scenes as angry Bharatiya Jansata Party legislators tore copies of bills and the agenda, and threw them at the deputy speaker, who was presiding, following which Speaker U T Khader suspended 10 of them for the remainder of the session.
As many as 13 Congress and three Janata Dal-Secular MLAs had resigned from the Karnataka Assembly in 2019 thus bringing down the 14-month-old coalition government of the Congress and the JD-S led by H D Kumaraswamy.
The decision to invite Mushtaq had sparked controversy, with several petitions challenging the Karnataka government's move.
The BJP on Saturday accused the Congress of repeatedly supplying "oxygen" to Pakistan, and slammed the opposition party for its leader Charanjit Singh Channi's remarks questioning the veracity of Balakot air strikes after the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the Congress is full of pro-Pakistan leaders who make statements against India's interests, and mocked the party for its letter that had advised its functionaries to toe the official line on the issue. Patra also criticized other Congress leaders for their comments on the Pulwama and Pahalgam terror attacks, accusing them of lowering the morale of the armed forces. He further slammed the Congress for claiming credit for the government's announcement of the caste census and said the party never carried out the exercise during its over 60-year stint in power.
Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge criticizes Home Minister Amit Shah, calling him 'incompetent' and demanding his resignation following a deadly blast in Delhi, citing intelligence failure and lack of accountability.
'The campaign by the Mahagathbandan has failed to capture the imagination of the electorate given the fatigue factor with the Nitish government.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party's comprehensive defeat to the Congress in Karnataka where the two parties ran a campaign of contrasts has left the ruling party much to ponder as the two rivals are facing a direct contest in three more state polls this year in the run-up to the all-important 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat defended the organization's recognition and addressed concerns about respecting the Indian tricolour, responding to criticism from Congress leaders.
With most exit polls predicting a tight contest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls in Karnataka, leaders of the two parties seem 'jittery' over the outcome, while the Janata Dal-Secular appears to be expecting a hung verdict, which would enable it to play a role in government formation.
Shafiulla, in his resignation letter to the JD-S Karnataka president said that he had opted to stay outside the party for the period during which the state unit of the party had joined with the BJP to form the state government.
In a significant move, the Centre on Wednesday announced that caste enumeration will be part of the next population census, with the inclusion of caste details for the first time since independence hailed by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies as a historic step to help design truly equitable and focused policies.
The Congress on Sunday took a strong exception to the exclusion of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the Karnataka government's newspaper advertisement on freedom fighters and termed the Bharatiya Janata Party action 'pathetic'.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday named 72 more candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Anurag Singh Thakur, and former chief ministers Manohar Lal Khattar, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Basavaraj Bommai.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pratap Simha on Sunday alleged that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is out to finish his family only to 'politically rehabilitate' his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah.
The day began with the Congress meeting with Governor Rameshwar Thakur and telling him that they did not intend supporting any party in the state and had no intention of forming the government.
A Congress source termed the process of drafting and presenting of the Bill before the state cabinet on Monday as a "unilateral" effort by the chief minister's office and ministers that are close to him.
Sources said a couple of resolutions are expected to be passed at the crucial meeting, with an eye on the upcoming Bihar polls.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar offered to apologize if anyone was hurt over his rendition of the RSS' prayer song in the state assembly. He reaffirmed his loyalty to the Congress party.
Unidentified men posing as central government officials intercepted a cash van in Bengaluru and allegedly fled with about Rs 7 crore. Police are investigating the incident and have formed teams to hunt for the suspects.
Congress president M Mallikarjun Kharge, meanwhile, came to Siddaramaiah's defence, stating that the party is standing with him and will support him.
Yeddyurappa lacks the Karnataka BJP's unqualified support and Shah knows that.
'By design or default, the BJP's election strategy militated against the very essence of Karnataka politics and the idea of Karnataka.'
Given that the BJP made all these moves and that these moves were presumably approved by Modi if not directed by him, who should accept the responsibility for the party's rout? asks Aakar Patel.
Five Parliamentarians from Karnataka including Janata Dal-Secular leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Nirmala Sitharaman and Pralhad Joshi, who were part of the previous Cabinet, on Sunday took oath in the new National Democratic Alliance Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was defeated in the Karnataka assembly elections, the party retained its traditional stronghold in the coastal region by securing victories in 11 of the 13 constituencies in the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
A group of Congress leaders have written to Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to warn party leaders and state ministers, who are weighing in for the chief minister's post, in the event of leadership change in Karnataka.
'But I know why he did it.' 'He was being heckled by BJP members who were mocking the Congress.' 'In that context, he quoted the song to tell them: "We know your anthem, we know your ideology, we know how divisive you are".' 'It was not an endorsement.'
A controversy has erupted over the alleged misrepresentation of the India map on the posters displayed by the Congress to commemorate the centenary of 1924 Congress session in Karnataka's Belagavi, with the Bharatiya Janata Party dubbing it as 'vote bank' politics by the national party.
Former Karnataka chief minister Jagdish Shettar, who had quit the Bharatiya Janata Party to join the Congress ahead of the state assembly polls last year, rejoined his old party on Thursday.
The Congress in its poll manifesto had promised to undo the changes made to school textbooks when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power, and had also promised to scrap National Education Policy.
'I disagree with much of Modi's politics, but it cannot be denied that in these years in office, he has carved more than a niche for himself in history,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for Bengaluru, Bommai said he held a meeting with Nadda on Wednesday on the matter.
Sharad Pawar claimed that two individuals had met him in New Delhi before the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls and 'guaranteed' the Opposition's victory in 160 of 288 constituencies.
'Some of his ministers have performed abysmally, and Bommai has faced an unwanted campaign of religious polarisation imposed by national BJP leaders.'
