Suresh Kumar said he was withdrawing his nomination following a direction from the BJP leadership.
Bowing to the directives of the party central leadership, three Bharatiya Janata Party ministers in Karnataka on Wednesday resigned after they were engulfed in a row over watching sleazy clippings during the Assembly proceedings.
The second phase election to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly began today at 7am amid tight security against the backdrop of Naxalites killing a school head master and a lecturer in the Naxal-infected Udupi district on Thursday night. Naxals, who were active in Shimoga, Udupi and Chikamagalur Districts, had pasted posters and distributed pamphlets a couple of days back calling for boycott of elections.
Factors such as anti-incumbency, voter fatigue, and dissatisfaction among the youth contributed mainly to the poor showing of Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the Telangana legislative assembly election on Sunday.
"You are made to read lies, so please don't read it," BJP members said.
The Congress has convened a CLP meeting on Friday ahead of budget presentation and warned its MLAs that absence would invite action under the Anti-Defection Law.
With Bharatiya Janata Party facing 'dynasty politics' criticism, following the appointment of veteran leader B S Yediyurappa's son B Y Vijayendra as its Karnataka unit president, party's senior leader C T Ravi on Saturday tried to dodge related questions, and in a cryptic remark said he too is being haunted by certain 'questions'.
Eshwarappa would turn 75 in June, the unofficial age bar in the BJP for leaders to contest polls and hold official positions.
The MLAs -- Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumtalli, Umesh Jadhav, and Nagendra -- did not ascribe any reason for not attending the opening day's session.
The future course of Karnataka politics may be decided on Monday by a three-judge bench of the high court comprising Justices Abdul Nasir, Mohan Shanthan Goudar and A S Bopanna. The bench will deliver a verdict on the validity of the suspension of five independent Members of Legislative Assembly by Speaker K G Bopaiah.
A Rs 20 crore deal was struck to secure bail for former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, who was arrested in connection with the iron ore mining scam, according to state Member of Legislative Assembly Suresh Babu. The revelations come in the wake of Babu's arrest by the Anti-Corruption Bureau on Monday.
A week after assuming power in Karnataka, the Congress on Friday released the list of 24 legislators who will be sworn-in as ministers to fill up all the vacant ministerial positions.
Contests in 13 seats would attract most attention during the Chhattisgarh assembly elections as they feature prominent leaders of the Congress and BJP.
This marks the entry of the 8th member from the Gowda family into politics.
Within a week of assuming power, the Congress government in Karnataka has expanded its cabinet on Saturday, filling all posts.
The 91-year-old expressed his joy, saying he never thought that he would sit in a new Parliament building in his lifetime.
For the BJP, Telangana is a sunrise state in the South, while Karnataka is a southern success despite the ups and downs.
A new cabinet in the state will be in place in the next 48-72 hours.
The BJP is faced with the crucial question of who will lead the party in the four impending state polls this year: In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
Amid fear over the border row with Maharashtra and disruption due to protests by various communities, the entire city resembles a cantonment of sorts.
The Congress Legislature Party, which met at a private hotel in Bengaluru on Sunday evening, passed a unanimous resolution authorising the party chief to pick its leader.
'I wholeheartedly condemn the statement made earlier today by Sri K R Ramesh Kumar. It is inexplicable how anyone can ever utter such words, they are indefensible. Rape is a heinous crime. Full stop,' she said on Twitter.
Adequate security and Covid safety measures have been put in place for the electoral exercise.
The Congress leader later tweeted an apology.
Alleging that the NGO allows its name to be used "at the behest of some selected political interest", the Union of India told the top court that it is guilty of collecting huge funds by exploiting the agonies of riot-affected people.
The party desperate to retain power in the state will also prepare dossiers on opposition MLAs to assess the winability of prospective party nominees.
The 79-year old veteran leader, who has already announced his retirement from electoral politics, said there is no question of him sitting at home, and after the assembly session he will tour the state and campaign for the party and its candidates.
Coming down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka in the wake of the Mangalore incidents, Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury on Saturday said there was a breakdown of law and order in the state where Talibanisation is happening. "All instruments of democracy will be used to stop such incidents," she told reporters while commenting on Friday night's kidnapping of the daughter of a Kerala Member of Legislative Assembly and friend.
The Congress on Monday promised that a government led by it will conduct a nationwide caste census and implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies at the earliest, including adequate representation for women belonging to the OBC community.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its first list of 189 candidates for the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, fielding Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from his traditional Shiggaon constituency.
Allowing 12-hour shifts for all and night-time work for women was meant to benefit software firms, but is said to have clinched Foxconn's Rs 80 billion investment.
The Congress, by and large, focused on local issues in this election and its campaign also was run by state leaders initially.
After a series of deliberations, the BJP on Tuesday announced its first list of 189 candidates and a second list of 23 on Wednesday night.
While 67 per cent of India's population is 39 years old or younger, states are governed by chief ministers who are 70 or older.
The notification will be issued on January 20, while January 27 will be the last date of filing nominations.
Polling is being held for 224 seats in what is being seen mainly as a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal-Secular.
The Congress has 40 MLAs while the BJP has 25 in the 68-member state assembly. The remaining three seats are held by independents.
Women politicians bring to politics and policy a sensitivity that most of their male counterparts, at least until a generation back, lacked.
The Mumbai police arrested a man from Bengaluru for allegedly threatening Maharashtra cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray, an official said on Thursday.
More than ever before, women voters can make or mar a political party's electoral fortunes.
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