Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday said he has been asked by the Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership not to contest the May 10 assembly elections, to which he has informed the party top brass of his displeasure with the decision.
The Bharatiya Janata Party replaced at least 25 sitting MPs with new faces as the party released its second list of 72 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Wednesday.
For the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, the assembly elections are nothing short of an acid test.
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.
Minister for Small Scale Industries Roshan Baig has resigned.
A crucial meeting of the Janata Dal-Secular legislature party is scheduled to commence at 0900 hours where a final call will be taken whether to support the BJP or not. JDS supreme H D Deve Gowda has been authorised by his party to take the final decision.
Some BJP leaders believe the issue is not about Yeddyurappa's moves to contain the mining interests of the Reddy brothers in Bellary. The Rajnath Singh camp, which is pitted in a bitter battle with the Advani camp, has been accusing former Union minister Ananth Kumar, who is close to Advani, of triggering the crisis.
Just eight months after its good showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seems to be running out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions resulting in diminishing electoral returns that have once again put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the driver's seat in national politics.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his whirlwind Lok Sabha poll campaign with a rally in Punjab's Hoshiarpur on Thursday, closing out his electioneering the way he began -- by focussing on a region where he has invested heavily over the years for the Bharatiya Janata Party to make a mark outside its strongholds.
In an apparent move to quell dissidence in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday expanded his ministry by inducting rebel legislator M P Renukacharya into his cabinet.
The meeting, which will be headed by Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, will discuss the latest recommendation by the governor.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray launched a scathing attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), questioning the outcome of the recent Maharashtra assembly elections and alleging hypocrisy in the BJP's stance on corruption. He also hinted at internal changes within the MNS, emphasizing the need for discipline and a renewed focus on the party's goals.
He said the cabinet expansion exercise may not take a week's time and a direction from the leadership was likely by Monday.
It appears to be difficult to predict who would be the clear winner in the May 5 Karnataka assembly elections, but according to leading psephologist Sandeep Shastri, the Congress looks to be on top of the table for now.
In the first sign of dissidence in Karnataka's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party a day after change of guard, 12 disgruntled legislators who failed to get ministerial berths met under the leadership of former minister and mining magnate Karunakara Reddy in Bengaluru.
The alleged misappropriation of flood relief funds, which has hit the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka, has also torched the Opposition Congress party in the state.
The 61 year-old leader was the Minister for Home Affairs, Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Legislature in Yediyurappa's council of ministers that was dissolved on Monday and was also the Minister in-charge of Haveri and Udupi Districts.
Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj, who is gunning for the removal of Reddy brothers from the state ministry on the issue of illegal mining, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram and is understood to have discussed the issue.
Lakshman Prasad Acharya has been made the governor of Assam with the additional charge of Manipur while Gulab Chand Kataria has replaced Banwarilal Purohit as the governor of Punjab under major gubernatorial appointments, the Rashtrapati Bhavan has announced.
However, it fell nine seats short of a majority.
Party sources said United Progressive Allinace chairperson Sonia Gandhi is likely to reach Delhi on Wednesday from Himachal Pradesh and is expected to meet some leaders who are part of the decision-making process in Karnataka.
With this, the Cabinet will reach its full strength of 34.
B S Yeddyurappa's followers have threatened to stage a coup in the party if the central leadership does not take a favourable decision. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Weighed down by anti-incumbency, the BJP heavily banked on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal appeal to enable it to sail through in the assembly elections but it was not to be.
Though the promised power transfer is on October 3, the party says it is ready to take up CM's post much earlier
At present in Karnataka, if one takes a close look at the manner in which the tickets are being distributed it is clear that caste is being considered while handing out tickets. The Lingayats and the Vokkaligas have been dominant in Karnataka since time immemorial and the tussle for power between these two communities is no secret.
According to a statement issued by the chief minister's office, the meeting will be held in Vidhana Souda conference Hall.
Home Minister P Chidamabaram has criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party for its attack on Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj granting sanction to prosecute the chief minister and said the governor's decision was in accordance with the law.
Vicky Nanjappa reports on how Narendra Modi has not just managed to draw the crowd in Karnataka but improved the BJP's chances in the state
The political situation in Karnataka is expected to be action-packed on Friday, with the state Congress deciding to lead a delegation to the prime minister at New Delhi, urging him to act on the report recommending President's rule in Karnataka.
The party president said the manifesto was the 'voice of the people of Karnataka'.
It appears today that Karnataka legislators have spent more time in resorts than at the Karnataka legislative assembly or even their respective constituencies
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
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.
Will any party in Karnataka get an absolute majority in the May 5 elections? What combinations and options do political parties have? Vicky Nanjappa answers a few vital questions
Shivakumar was scheduled to leave for Delhi on Monday but cancelled the travel plans citing ill-health.
The counting of votes for the bypolls to 46 assembly seats in 13 states and in the Lok Sabha segments of Nanded in Maharashtra and Wayanad in Kerala, a crucial electoral exercise since the parliamentary polls in April-May, will begin at 8 am on Saturday.
There are protests galore in Karnataka over the Cauvery water release issue and there appears to be no solution in sight with farmers only intensifying their protest with each passing day.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's central leadership in Delhi has invited the feuding factions in Karnataka for a meeting on Sunday. BJP president Nitin Gadkari will hold talks with Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda and former CM B S Yeddyurappa's emissary Shobha Karandlaje.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka on Tuesday lashed out at Maharashtra leaders' demand to declare Marathi-speaking areas in Karnataka as Union Territory till the Supreme Court decides on the issue, saying it would 'back-fire' on that state. "There are a large number of Kannada-speaking people in Sholapur and Kolhapur and at different places (in Maharashtra). If they are also converted as Union Territories, the issue will not stop anywhere," a minister said.
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