With 103 members belonging to the BJP, the Karnataka assembly will witness a balance it has never seen.
In a dramatic development, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Minister C P Yogeeshwara on Wednesday quit his party and joined the Congress, which is now expected to field him in the November 13 assembly bypolls from Channapatna.
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.
They are the contenders, the leaders of parties that will finally form a government in Karnataka.
A controversy has erupted in Mysuru over the ownership of Chamundi Hill, home to the Chamundeshwari Temple, ahead of the Dasara festival. Pramoda Devi Wadiyar of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family criticized Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's statement that the hill is not the property of Hindus alone, leading to a heated exchange and raising questions about the nature of the upcoming Dasara celebrations.
Amid Congress leaders in Karnataka openly discussing possible change of Chief Minister in the state, All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said it is up to the party high command to decide on such matters and that one should not create any unnecessary problem.
Beleaguered Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political credibility will be tested by the outcome of the three by-elections. And cries that he must resign will become shriller if the Congress loses them.
'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.
The Congress government in Karnataka will provide financial assistance to those allegedly sexually assaulted by Janata Dal-Secular leader Prajwal Revanna, the national party said on Sunday.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar accuses the BJP of politicizing the Dharmasthala 'multiple murders and burials' case, criticizing their protests and questioning their motives.
Opposition-ruled states warn of steep annual losses; Centre assures higher consumption will offset revenue hit.
The MUDA office in Mysuru and some other locations are being raided by the federal probe agency officials along with an escort of a central paramilitary force, the sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and a strong team of Union ministers figure in the list of the party's 40 star campaigners for Karnataka assembly elections next month.
Vicky Nanjappa marks down the most keenly followed constituencies in the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accuses the BJP-led government of stealing votes with the help of the Election Commission during a rally in Siwan, Bihar.
As many as 11 people died and 33 injured following a stampede near the Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium in Bengaluru, where a large number of people had thronged to participate in the RCB team's IPL victory celebrations on Wednesday.
The Congress on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Karnataka ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from its lone southern citadel with a comfortable majority in a morale booster win that will be key for reviving its electoral fortunes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea challenging the Karnataka government's decision to invite International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate Mysuru Dasara this year.
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.
B S Yeddyurappa's newly-launched Karnataka Janata Party is holding its national executive in Bengaluru.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that a 'systematic vote chori' method, evolved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission to 'kill Indian democracy', will be deployed in the Bihar assembly polls as well.
'The campaign by the Mahagathbandan has failed to capture the imagination of the electorate given the fatigue factor with the Nitish government.'
The Congress party has launched a web portal where people can register to demand accountability from the Election Commission over alleged vote rigging, following Rahul Gandhi's claims of 'vote chori'.
Hitting out at the Congress government headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, he said the ruling party has reached "height of appeasement politics," and alleged that it has in a way made appeasement of minorities its "goal."
The launch of a new party by former Karnataka minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy has spiced up the poll scene in parts of state.
The Congress on Monday shifted all its MLAs to a hotel ahead of the biennial election to fill four vacancies from Karnataka in Rajya Sabha apparently to keep the flock together.
Going by political tradition, another formation will likely come to power in Karnataka in the next assembly election, due 2028. And if that happens, Mr Shivakumar will have to sit it out till 2033, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Where does Kamal Haasan stand on the issue of imposition of Hindi in the south? "I stand with Punjab. I stand with Karnataka. I stand with Andhra," is his quick reply.
Karnataka state Bharatiya Janata Party president B Y Vijayendra and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's brother D K Suresh called on state minister Satish Jarkiholi separately on Monday, triggering political speculation.
Karnataka minister Satish Jarkiholi on Wednesday said the guarantee schemes need to be reviewed so that only the economically weaker sections, and not the rich, benefit from them, sparking a debate on the ambitious programmes launched by the Congress government.
Additional Superintendent of Police Narayan Baramani, who faced Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's anger during a Congress rally in Belagavi, said he was 'attending to his duty'. This comes after reports that he sought voluntary retirement from service after the incident.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday slammed the Congress government in Karnataka over the deaths in a stampede during Royal Challengers Bengaluru celebrations in Bengaluru, demanding that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home Minister G Parameshwara take responsibility for the incident.
Reiterating that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team felicitation event in front of Vidhana Soudha on June 4 was not organised by the state government, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday clarified that he 'called' Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot for the event, which he too was attending.
Speaking to reporters later, Bommai said: "We respectfully accept the decision of the people. I take the responsibility of the defeat."
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah condemned the alleged poisoning of drinking water at a government school in Belagavi district, reportedly to force the transfer of a Muslim headmaster. He termed it a 'heinous act' driven by religious hatred and fundamentalism.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance was surging ahead in two southern states -- Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka -- while the respective blocs led by the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu and Congress in Kerala were on their way for another excellent show, going by the latest trends emerging from the counting of voted polled in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Kamal Haasan's comments invited sharp criticism in Karnataka.
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.
The 75-year-old Eshwarappa, had remained steadfast in his decision to contest, spurning efforts by party leaders to pacify him. He had even filed his nomination as an independent candidate.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress top leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday condoled the Bengaluru stampede deaths and the Bharatiya Janata Party asked the Congress government to own up responsibility for what it called the 'state-sponsored negligence'.
