Success in Karnataka's assembly polls will hinge on two factors: Drop a large number of incumbent MLAs and project Modi and not the state leaders, least of all Bommai.
Even as Karnataka continues to release water to Tamil Nadu as per the directive of the Cauvery River Waters Authority, all the members of Legislative Assembly from the Janata Dal-Secular have tendered their resignations against this move by the Karnataka government.
Political temperatures were soaring in several states that could see close contests, with parties trying to keep their flock together and trading accusations of poaching of MLAs.
Extensive arrangements have been made due to the COVID-19 pandemic including personal protective equipment kits for election staff, more polling booths, thermal screening, sanitisers, masks and gloves for voters and markings to ensure social distancing, officials said.
There is no mention of Kolar, the second seat from where senior party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, wants to contest, in addition to Varuna, where his name is already cleared.
Vicky Nanjappa speaks to Bharatiya Janata party Member of Legislative Assembly Krishna Palemar, who was one of the ministers in the Sadananda Gowda cabinet who resigned after television clips showed him allegedly watching a porn video in the Karnataka assembly.
Eshwarappa, who recently announced his retirement from electoral politics, also shared a video of him talking to Modi in a phone call.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday said the 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka (comprising of Belgaum, Karwar, Gulbarga and Bidar) should be made a Union Territory.
Addressing the centenary year celebrations of the All India Presiding Officers Conference organised in the Himachal Pradesh State Assembly, Harivansh suggested various reforms to make law making legislatures more dynamic.
They are also likely to demand a second round of cabinet expansion soon.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi's Goshamahal in-charge Nanda Kishore Vyas is pitted against Raja Singh from Goshamahal segment.
Among the three Deputy Chief Ministers are Govind Karjol, who has also been given the charge of PWD and Social welfare; Ashwath Narayan the portfolio of Higher Education, IT & BT, Science and Technology; and Laxman Savadi with Transport department.
There were reports of such incidents at temples in various places including Bengaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Mysuru, Chikkamagaluru, Yadgir, Mandya and Kolar among other places.
The clarification came in the wake of speculation within a section of the ruling Congress about a change in leadership after two-and-half years of this government's tenure.
Yediyurappa, however, evaded queries on whether he would be able to complete his tenure, as there has been speculation about a possible leadership change in the state following murmurs of discontent in the party.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, on Tuesday, inaugurated Infosys' Global Education Center - II at its Mysore campus.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Karnataka on Friday sought to woo farmers, women and younger generation with a slew of welfare measures in its last budget in the current term, also earmarking Rs 1000 crore towards development and renovation of various temples and maths in the state.
Facing a truncated strength caused by the en masse resignation of 16 ruling coalition MLAs, Kumaraswamy moved a one-line motion, saying the House expressed confidence in the 14-month old ministry headed by him.
Both the eight-time MLA Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah have made no secret of their ambition to become CM and had been involved in a game of political one upmanship in the past.
Multiple challenges, particularly with regard to cabinet formation, stare at Siddaramaiah as he takes over as the new chief minister of Karnataka, nudging out party colleague and state Congress president D K Shivakumar -- who will now be his deputy.
A resolution to punish the two journalists -- Belagere, who is Editor of Hi Bangalore, and Anil Raju, Editor of Yelahanka Voice -- was adopted by the assembly by a voice vote
The EC had on Saturday issued a notice to the Karnataka Congress over its "corruption rate card" advertisements published in newspapers in the run-up to the May 10 state polls and sought "empirical evidence" to prove its allegations by Sunday evening.
The party leadership blamed two of its MLAs, Srinivas Gowda from Kolar and S R Srinivas from Gubbi, for betraying the party.
The high court had in 2005 disqualified the legislator on a petition filed by one S S Bagali under the Representation of People's Act.
Sidda launches free bus travel scheme for women
The MLAs, who support the coalition, are staying at the Golfshire Club in the city. Various photos show the politicians performing asanas in different groups. With wooden flooring and huge glass windows, a scenic view is seen outside the room where the MLAs are gathered.
Siddaramaiah will be the next CM of Karnataka and D K Shivakumar his deputy, Congress sources in Delhi said on Thursday after the party arrived at a consensus on government formation in the state following hectic parleys.
The newly elected Congress legislators, who are staying at a resort on the city outskirts, also joined the protest.
Intelligence agencies have warned the Karnataka government of a major terror strike in Bangalore.
There are two such seats in Tamil Nadu and one each in West Bengal, Assam, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Madhya Pradesh.
The MLA appeared before the court of additional sessions judge RP Mogera and filed a 30-page objection to the former Congress president's plea for staying his conviction, his lawyer Ketan Reshamwala said.
The Cherlapally Central Jail officials on Thursday seized an amount of Rs 15,000 from jailed Bellary city Member of Legislative Assembly Gali Somashekhar Reddy, an accused in the cash-for-bail scam involving his brother and former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy.
Badava Shramika Raitha Congress founder B Sreeramulu on Tuesday appeared before the Andhra Pradesh Anti-Corruption Bureau in Hyderabad in connection with the ongoing probe in the cash-for-bail scandal involving jailed former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy.
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Congress that had announced a list of 218 candidates in one go for the 224 member Karnataka legislative assembly on April 15, had kept the names of candidates for six seats on hold.
The Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party Elders' Forum, an informal group of party veterans, today said it would release a list of tainted ruling party Members of Legislative Assembly and ministers and threatened to field honest candidates if tainted ones were given tickets to contest in the next assembly elections.
Udupi in Karnataka has witnessed a close electoral fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress in the last few years, with the former winning the seat in the last three polls. But the BJP was forced to deny a ticket to Raghupathy Bhat after a CD showing the sitting Member of Legislative Assembly in an alleged compromising position was revealed.
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party released its first list of 136 candidates for the May assembly poll in Karnataka, discontent appears to be brewing in the party with those denied tickets venting their ire in public against party leaders. BJP activists torched posters and banners of party leaders in Herekerur in Dharwad district to protest against denial of ticket to U B Banakar.
If the Congress is contesting fewer seats than ever before, the BJP is set to contest its highest-ever number of Lok Sabha seats.