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.
Some leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka unit are ready to switch their loyalties if the ruling party fails to come back to power.
In an election where every seat will matter, micro-strategising is going to be the order of the day. And in such a situation, party infighting - in all parties --could lead to unpredictable results.
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
Pawar has summoned a meeting of party leaders in Mumbai on Saturday to finalise its plans for the assembly elections in Karnataka scheduled for May 10.
'There is huge anger among our workers and leaders, so many of us have decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka as Independents to fight against this injustice.'
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.
Karnataka Minister Umesh Katti died due to cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Tuesday night, official sources said.
The Supreme Court referred to a larger bench the legal issues stemming from a plea of BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, including the question whether a prior sanction to prosecute is needed under the Prevention of Corruption Act after a magisterial court order of inquiry. The questions revolve around the interplay between the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure on the issue of prior sanction to prosecute a public servant.
'The result was announced by the officials at the Counting Centre at S S M R V College in Jayanagar late tonight,' a state Information Department official said in a statement.
A boy's alleged remark that the Education Minister 'doesn't know Kannada', irked Madhu Bangarappa, who holds the portfolio, as he directed officials to take action against the student.
While the party's vote share jumped by more than four per cent, the Janata Dal-Secular saw a sharp fall of more than five per cent, according to Election Commission data on the assembly elections.
The Opposition Congress on Saturday seemed to be on course to breach rival Bharatiya Janata Party's lone southern citadel Karnataka, inching towards the magic figure of 113 needed to form a government on its own.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's statement that even God can't fix Bengaluru traffic in the next two or three years, has come under severe criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party, with leader of opposition R Ashoka on Friday demanding that the former step down and make way for someone more capable if he is unable to take responsibility and address the city's traffic issues.
In its exit poll released after the voting on May 10, India Today-Axis My India predicted a clear majority for the Congress with 122-140 seats and gave the BJP 62-80 seats. It gave 20-25 seats to the JD-S.
He also announced appointment of another senior leader D Manjunath as chairman of the party's Parliamentary Board and Meerajuddin Patel as chairman of the Political Affairs Committee.
In the wake of allegations against police for ill-treating Karnataka MLC C T Ravi in custody, the police on Tuesday clarified that the Bharatiya Janata Party leader was shifted to various places for security reasons and to avoid disrupting public order.
The BJP Legislature Party meeting is scheduled for Friday, during which the election of its leader, who will also be the Leader of Opposition in the assembly, is likely to be announced.
The bill was defeated by a voice vote on February 23 in the upper house, where the Opposition has a majority, after it was passed by the assembly on February 21.
Some of them also carried pictures of Lord Hanuman as party workers and leaders assembled at Indira Bhawan, the state Congress office, and distributed sweets, threw gulal powder and burst firecrackers.
The Congress on Wednesday released a list of 40 leaders who would be the party's star campaigners for the May 10 assembly elections.
The chief minister said no one should indulge in vote bank politics
'They know the people of Karnataka will not accept it.'
A day after fielding Mohammed Yousuf Savanur as its candidate from Shiggaon in Haveri district, the party nominated Yasir Ahmed Khan Phatan in his place.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said his government has decided to hand over the Hubballi student murder case to the Crime Investigation Department and that a special court will be set up for its speedy disposal.
In Karnataka, party bosses are holed up in guest houses and resorts to finalise the list of candidates for their respective parties and are keeping their locations undisclosed as they do not want to be swayed by pressure. The JD-S, BJP, and Congress have each received over 2,000 applications, and are under immense pressure to get their final list of candidates just right. Parties are also faced with the possibility of dissidence from disappointed candidates.
A 54-year-old woman who accused senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader B S Yediyurappa of allegedly sexually abusing her 17-year-old daughter died at a private hospital in Bengaluru due to lung cancer, police said on Monday.
The three seats fell vacant following the resignations of Baburao Chinchansur, R Shankar and Laxman Savadi to contest the assembly elections.
It should announce its candidates 45 days before the elections; trust rooted leaders; start its campaign focused on five guarantees six months before elections.
2 office bearers each from Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa camps have been relieved.
Sniping at the BJP senior leadership has reached a new high in Karnataka. For the moment, there is a truce, but the party knows the damage it could do ahead of the polls.
Chandrappa's appointment follows the demise of KPCC working president and former MP R Dhruvanarayana.
Banking on the Budget's tax relief, the BJP seeks to energise Delhi's middle class; the AAP is doing its bit too. But will their outreach mobilise this politically crucial yet disengaged electorate?
According to Congress, the five schemes are 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).
According to party sources, the Congress leadership has been making efforts to convince some ministers and lawmakers to contest, as they have faced problems in identifying winnable candidates in several segments.
Prime Minister Modi will visit RSS headquarters in Nagpur on March 30.
Supporters of Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain allegedly shouted pro-Pakistan slogans after his victory in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said if the Congress comes to power in Karnataka, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high in the state and it will be 'afflicted with riots'.
Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Rajnath Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam), H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka), and Jitan Ram Manjhi (Bihar).
However, he claimed that this was a fight to save the party and its ideology and to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister once again.
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