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.
Shrikant Pangarkar, an accused in the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, which outraged the nation, joined Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Jalna ahead of assembly polls.
Addressing the party cadre in Bengaluru, Shivakumar said, "We got 135 plus seats in the assembly elections, but I am not happy, don't come to my or Siddaramaiah's house. Our next target is the Lok Sabha elections and we must fight well."
The first meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Karnataka will be held at 5.30 pm on Sunday, according to All India Congress Committee in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala.
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.
The Supreme Court of India has reserved its verdict on a plea by BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa challenging an order reviving a corruption case against him. The case involves allegations of corruption and criminal conspiracy related to the allocation of industrial land. The court has framed several key legal questions, primarily focusing on the interplay between various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Criminal Procedure Code regarding prior sanction to prosecute a public servant. The court has asked Yediyurappa's counsel to file written submissions within two weeks.
Mudigere's Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, M P Kumaraswamy, on Thursday announced his resignation from the party, after he was denied ticket to contest the Karnataka assembly polls, and blamed national General Secretary C T Ravi for not getting nominated.
This strategy was discussed when Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently visited Mysuru to discuss the BJP's Lok Sabha plan, reports Aditi Phadnis.
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 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.
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.
Karnataka Minister Umesh Katti died due to cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Tuesday night, official sources said.
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.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections were a 'blueprint for rigging democracy' and this 'match-fixing' would next happen in Bihar and 'anywhere the Bharatiya Janata Party is losing'.
Five candidates were in the fray for the four seats in the elections, including Janata Dal-Secular contestant D Kupendra Reddy.
'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.
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.
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.
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.
'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.'
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.
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.
The Bharat Mata controversy in Kerala shows how political and symbolic fights between the state and the Centre have taken attention away from education, throwing the state's oldest university into confusion and disorder, observes Shyam G Menon.
2 office bearers each from Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa camps have been relieved.
The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) has confirmed that Kannada actor Ranya Rao, recently arrested for gold smuggling, was allotted 12 acres of industrial land in 2023 by the previous BJP government for setting up a steel plant. The allocation was approved during a state-level meeting in January 2023, when the BJP was in power. The Congress government, which came to power after the May 2023 elections, has released documents confirming the land allotment. Ranya Rao was arrested after gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore were seized from her at Bengaluru airport.
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 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.
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.
Unidentified assailants attacked three cows in Bengaluru, severing their udders and sparking outrage in the Chamarajapet area. The incident has led to tension in the city, with the BJP calling for a 'Black Sankranti' if the government fails to take action against the perpetrators. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has directed the police to investigate the case and take action against the culprits.
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 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.
Caste census politics took centre stage on Thursday with the Congress terming the government's decision as a 'diversionary tactic' and a move for headlines management and the Bharatiya Janata Party saying it has exposed the difference between the Centre's 'true intentions' and the 'empty sloganeering' of the opposition party.
Thousands gathered at Bengaluru's Sankey Tank to witness the historic Cauvery Aarati, a grand water ritual that combined spiritual elements with entertainment. The event, which included laser lights, Vedic chants, and a performance by popular musician Raghu Dixit, attracted a diverse crowd, including young people who were curious to see the spectacle. The event was part of a week-long campaign aimed at raising awareness about water conservation.
'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.
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.
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.
The chief minister said no one should indulge in vote bank politics
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