Renewing his attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka, Governor H R Bhardwaj on Friday charged it with having 'failed' to check illegal mining and demanded that Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa reply to his recent letters on illegal mining and alleged land scams. "Illegal mining is still continuing. No action is taken by the government here," said Bhardwaj, who wrote to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa two days ago seeking a report on the issue.
The BJP formally withdrew support from the Karnataka government on Sunday, thus reducing the Janata Dal-Secular government, led by Kumaraswamy, to a minority. The BJP met Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur at Raj Bhavan on Sunday to inform him about its decision to withdraw support. The BJP leaders also urged the governor to impose President's rule. Kumaraswamy said that he is ready to face the trust vote on October 18 and added that he is confident of winning.
A source in the CEC's office claimed that the money power of the Congress and BJP candidates in states like Punjab, Gujarat and Maharashtra pales in comparison to candidates from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Congress has alleged that Chief Minister Narendra Modi will address only one public rally in poll-bound Karnataka as he was indebted to Karnataka Janata Party chief B S Yeddyurappa, who had supported his candidature for the post of prime minister.
"(Someone said) I have promised that I will make a Shiv Sena worker chief minister but then he himself became CM," Shinde said, taking a jibe at Uddhav Thackeray.
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.
A committee was set up after the Bharatiya Janata Party's IT cell chief announced in a tweet the schedule for the Karnataka assembly polls before the official declaration on March 27.
While the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party hit out at the MLA and the Congress government, Shivakumar seeking to clarify, said no guarantee scheme will be stopped and it will be continued for five years.
Despite the AAP cutting into its votes, the Congress still polled 27 per cent votes and won 17 seats.
Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP president, said, "Amit Shah has set a target of 35 seats. We will achieve that".
The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to promulgate an ordinance to give effect to the contentious law against religious conversions.
The Congress must learn its lessons from the Gujarat elections and ensure that the anti-BJP votes don't get splintered by aligning with the JD-S, says Shafeeq Rahman.
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.
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.
Demonstrations and attempts to block roads by burning tires were reported from Ramanagara, Chennapattana and few neighbouring towns, where a bandh has been called by Shivakumar's supporters.
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
Claiming taxes collected from the south were being distributed to north India and that the former were not getting their due share, Congress MP D K Suresh on Thursday said the southern states will be forced to demand for a separate nation if the 'injustice' was not rectified.
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
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
The state is mainly witnessing a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular).
'Rahul Gandhi never gets firsthand information. He does not know what is good or bad going on in the party.'
Eshwarappa, who recently announced his retirement from electoral politics, also shared a video of him talking to Modi in a phone call.
It is early to make out which way the wind is blowing, but there is no denying that challenges for the BJP, far outweigh the advantages in this region, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The joint statement was issued by senior leaders of 13 opposition parties, including interim president of Congress Sonia Gandhi, the Nationalist Congress Party patriarch Sharad Pawar, and the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Leaders of several Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties met on Saturday to take stock of the opposition's preparations leading up to the June 4 counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections, and claimed they will get more than 295 seats, enough for them to form the next government.
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.
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 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 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 Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money-laundering case against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena Vijayan and her IT firm for receiving 'illegal payments' from a Kochi-based private firm, official sources said on Wednesday.
Siddaramaiah, who hails from the shepherd Kuruba caste, holds the record for presenting the highest number of Budgets in Karnataka -- 13 so far. He has often spoken about how he was mocked in 1994 before he presented his first Budget. 'Some people asked, "Can he count sheep?",' Siddaramaiah told a regional news channel.
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.
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.
The decision will be taken by the trust in consultation with Shankaracharya Vijayendra Saraswati and other seers, trust functionaries said.
In order to pacify the dissidents, the party's central leadership had to replace Bandi Sanjay Kumar with Union Minister G Kishan Reddy as state president of the BJP.
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.
Though the promised power transfer is on October 3, the party says it is ready to take up CM's post much earlier
Despite the towering image of BRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, along with the party's extensive grassroots network and welfare programmes, the perceived inaccessibility of its leaders contributed to the growing anti-incumbency sentiments.
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.
It appears today that Karnataka legislators have spent more time in resorts than at the Karnataka legislative assembly or even their respective constituencies
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