If the Congress is contesting fewer seats than ever before, the BJP is set to contest its highest-ever number of Lok Sabha seats.
Amid the suspense over the fate of the B S Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka following the revolt by a section of the Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Legislative Assembly, both the ruling party and opposition Janata Dal - Secular on Saturday continued their political machinations to maintain control over the rebels, who are currently holed up in a Goa hotel. Tourism Minister and mining magnate G Janardhana Reddy.
The best option to reduce farm distress in the state is that when the rains fail, the state -- the central and the state government -- provide a financial cushion for the farmer
Under attack from the Congress and the Janatha Dal Secular, while also battling threats of being ousted, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday said his government enjoyed majority. He said there was no need for 'Operation Lotus' under which opposition members of the legislative assembly were lured to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Aiming to breach the Bharatiya Janata Party's Gujarat bastion, the Aam Aadmi Party fielded its candidate to contest all 182 assembly seats and carried out a high decibel campaign in the run-up to the polls in Gujarat.
With organisations like the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, which is a front of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, telling Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman they want OPS back, the government is in a bind, report Shiva Rajora and Aditi Phadnis.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday dismissed talks of a brewing rebellion against him by a section of BJP members of legislative assembly, terming it as 'a creation of the media.'
Yediyurappa said he would decide on members to be inducted into the ministry after consulting party president Amit Shah.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will have an understanding with former prime minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal-Secular for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Friday, an announcement that shot up political temperature in Karnataka.
Counting of votes will be held on Sunday in assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana in what is seen as a semi-final contest ahead of the general elections in less than six months.
Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has made it clear that there is no threat to his government. During a meeting with Governor H R Bharadwaj, Shettar said that the numbers are there and he enjoys absolute majority on the floor of the state assembly.
Polling for 16 Rajya Sabha seats in four states will be held on Friday amid allegations of attempts at horse-trading by rival parties which have corralled their MLAs in hotels and scenic resorts, prompting the Election Commission to appoint special observers and order videography of the entire exercise.
Offering to trade second preference votes with the Congress, Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said his main agenda is to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the contest for fourth seat, during the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls from Karnataka.
The missive to the chief minister came as the MLAs were reportedly shepherded to Mumbai last night and kept in a five-star hotel to apparently prevent them from being poached for the June 11 biennial polls to four RS seats from the state.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yedyurappa got into the damage control mode on Saturday as he sent an emissary to New Delhi to pacify the 11 rebel Bharatiya Janata Party members of Legislative Assembly. The 11 rebel MLAs who got relief from the Supreme Court on Friday have demanded a change in the leadership, but have assured to stay loyal to the party.
As Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa gears up to fight yet another battle to save his seat, the 16 rebel members of legislative assembly who were given relief by the Supreme Court on Friday, said that their fight is against the individual and not against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The MLAs were upset ever since the cabinet reshuffle and expansion on December 22 that saw removal of Jarkiholi.
The autopsy report conducted on Padmapriya, wife of Udupi Member of Legislative Assembly Raghupathi Bhat, has confirmed that her death was due to suicide by hanging. The police are trying to ascertain the reason behind Padmapriya's suicide.The police are now questioning Bhat's childhood friend Atul Rao, who allegedly took Padmapriya to New Delhi. The Bhats and the Raos have been hurling accusations at each other ever since Padmapriya went missing.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Saturday told journalists that the ongoing crisis in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state had come to an end. However, rebel leader and state Tourism Minister B Janardhan Reddy, who is demanding a change in the state leadership, declared that he had not changed his stance.Informed sources said that as per the formula, certain changes will be made in the state cabinet.
Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yedyurappa looks like he has more trouble in hand with the Reddy brothers, who have claimed that they have 67 Members of Legislative Assembly on their side.
Congress Legislature Party leader and Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coordination committee chief Siddaramaiah said no one would leave the Congress and there was no disgruntlement either.
The by-elections are being held to fill the vacancies caused by the disqualification of 17 rebel Congress and Janata Dal-Secular MLAs, whose rebellion led to the collapse of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July and paved the way for the BJP to come to power.
Amid signals of disgruntlement among a section of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka over the delay in expansion or reshuffle of the cabinet, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who will be on an official visit to Delhi on April 30, said on Thursday he has not thought about meeting the party high command for now.
Thirty Members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly are headed to South America to 'study' the waterfalls in the Amazon forests.
"Karnataka has always forged inclusive economic development and we must not allow such communal exclusion- If ITBT became communal it would destroy our global leadership. @BSBommai please resolve this growing religious divide," Mazumdar-Shaw said.
Use of mobile phones in the Karnataka assembly was banned on Friday, a day after the House was rocked by chaos over a Bharatiya Janata Party member watching a zoomed in picture of Priyanka Gandhi during proceedings.
He said the people are looking for an alternative and the Congress' victories in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka elections are clear proof of this.
The Congress will conduct a caste census in Madhya Pradesh after winning the assembly polls and establish a university in the name of Sant Ravidas, said party president Mallikarjun Kharge, accusing the regime at the Centre of wishing to change the Constitution.
The five-state assembly elections are seen as a now-or-never, no-holds battle for the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
According to sources in the Congress, eight legislators are likely to be sworn in as ministers along with them.
'Modiji and Amit Shahji should see my work.' 'Everybody gives me a lot of respect.' 'National leaders should see that.'
Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, on private visit to the United States, said he was keeping a tab on the developments while the state Congress attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party, alleging the opposition party was trying to destabilise the government.
Karnataka Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar on Tuesday met party president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in New Delhi separately and discussed the modalities of government formation in the southern state.
The Assembly session would be held as planned and the Bill would be tabled in the House, Transport Minister N Chaluvaraya Swamy told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
Expressing surprise over Congress fielding a second candidate 'all of a sudden', senior JD-S leader and former Minister H D Revanna requested the national party for support to keep the 'communal forces' out of the race.
He said, according to the party constitution, a 3-member enquiry committee would be set up, which after going through their (suspended MLAs) replies to the notice.
As of now, it seems highly unlikely that Kumaraswamy will pass the floor test as the BJP has decided to pull out. However, things may be different if the Congress steps in by then and supports the JDS from outside.
'I have faith in the party high command. I have certain principles. I can also take about 50 legislators and do the shouting, but for me the discipline of the party is important. If people like us don't follow things, there won't be any discipline in the party. I have said that if the high command gives me the responsibility, I will take it up. I have not said I won't'
There seems to be no "closure" for B S Yediyurappa, the Bharatiya Janata Party's "comeback man" in Karnataka, as he could never complete a full term in office, despite becoming the chief minister four times, surmounting odds. It's also too early to write a political obituary of the 78-year old Lingayat strongman and the 24X7 politician, the face of the party in the state for decades.
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