29 years ago, Karnataka was hurled into a huge political crisis after MLAs withdrew support to S R Bommai's Janata Dal ministry. As the governor recommended that the chief minister be dismissed and President's Rule imposed in the state, then President R Venkataraman disagreed with Rajiv Gandhi's Cabinet and argued that 'the question whether a ministry commanded the confidence of the assembly should be tested in the House and not by the governor.' A fascinating excerpt from President Venkataraman's My Presidential Years, published with the kind permission of the publishers HarperCollins India.
Another disqualified rebel MLA from Maski, Pratap Gowda Patil, asked the voters in a video message not to panic and said they were confident of emerging victorious in the Supreme Court.
The 75-year-old Lingayat leader broke his own record of the most short-lived head of government in Karnataka.
Changing a state's name requires constitutional amendment and it is done after taking into consideration all relevant factors, he said.
The embattled Janata Dal-Secular leader also said he was ready for everything and that he was not here to cling to power.
Stating that he would resign as Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from the assembly by the month end, former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa Thursday said he would focus on building his new party.
Most of them are sitting legislators and a few of them also served as ministers in the past.
Mother and son refuse to go away despite indications blowing in the wind that their leadership is ringing the death knell of the party, observes Ramesh Menon.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of blocking passage of six anti-graft bills by Parliament, which form part of the government's anti-corruption framework.
A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud also ordered video recording and possible live streaming of the assembly proceedings when the Kamal Nath led Congress government would undertake the floor test.
All the 13 legislators, who resigned from the Karnataka assembly membership on Tuesday, will also give up their primary membership to the Bharatiya Janatha Party.
"I seek support of all legislators and I ask them to vote for me by exercising their conscience just as Indira Gandhi did in a Presidential election," he said.
Polling for three parliamentary seats and 29 assembly constituencies were held on October 30, an exercise being seen as a barometer of the political mood in the country ahead of assembly elections in politically critical Uttar Pradesh as well as other states.
All guns blazing, Modi on Saturday mounted a scathing attack on the Congress over corruption, and asserted it will become "Punjab, Puducherry, Parivar" Congress after its defeat in the Karnataka assembly polls.
I will continue to remain in the party and serve as MLA, he said in Bengaluru.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has alleged that the BJP was conspiring to poach the MLAs in order to destabilise his government, a charge denied by the saffron party.
The confidence motion moved by Kumaraswamy was defeated with 99 members voting for the motion and 105 against it in a House of 225 including speaker P R Ramesh Kumar and a nominated member.
A message from KCR on Thursday evening persuaded the Congress to take its MLAs to Hyderabad.
While Nagaraj made no clear announcement of taking back resignation, the same was affirmed by Shivakumar while speaking to media outside Nagaraj's residence.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to vote in large numbers. "Today, there are bypolls taking place in various places across India. I urge those voting in these seats to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy," he said in a tweet.
Here's a list of the full first-time ministers in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
PM Modi's remarks at the rally at Akbarpur come amid a row in Karnataka where schools have stopped Muslim girls from attending classes while wearing hijab.
Naidu was an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activist during the Emergency and was arrested and jailed.
Here's how Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders reacted after the Supreme Court ordered for a floor test in Karnataka on Saturday.
The Congress legislators, led by Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, demanded that the governor should summon one-day session of the assembly for a floor test.
The Congress-Janata Dal-Secular coalition faces the threat of losing its majority in the assembly if the resignations are accepted as its current tally is 116 in the 224 member House.
While the Constitution makes everyone in India eligible to work anywhere in the country, states have used legal loopholes to frame laws.
The fifteen constituencies that will go to polls are: Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Yellapura, Hirekerur, Ranibennur, Vijaynagara, Chickballapura, K R Pura, Yeshwanthpura, Mahalakshmi Layout, Shivajinagara, Hosakote, K R Pete and Hunsur.
The company had signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government to set up the plant at an investment of Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion).
Vajpayee had resigned just 13 days after being in power due to lack of numbers.
An adverse judgement could have triggered a political realignment in Tamil Nadu and brought the ruling party perilously close to losing its majority in the state assembly whose effective strength is 232. Two seats are vacant.
Political parties were bracing for the assembly election results on Thursday in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and politically volatile Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, sending out feelers for possible post-poll tie-ups.
The Congress has accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy to topple the party's coalition government with the Janata Dal-Secular in Karnataka.
'Both the governor and the President enjoy an enormous array of 'grey' powers.' 'All parties criticise these when in the Opposition. But why does no government dismantle them when these parties come to power?' asks Aditi Phadnis.
Tamil Nadu's unending legislative fight for exemption from NEET has now flagged the question if it's time to review the Supreme Court's famous verdict in the 'Mandal case', fixing 50-per cent upper-limit for all reservations, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The crisis staring at the 13-month old government after over a dozen MLAs of the ruling combine quit on Saturday deepened with two Ministers and Independent MLAs -- H Nagesh and R Shankar -- resigning from the ministry and withdrawing their support to the coalition.
Former chief minister of Puducherry V Narayanasamy on Wednesday cautioned the voters against supporting the alliance comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, AINRC and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the coming assembly polls as these parties would have no qualms to merge the Union territory with Tamil Nadu.
'There cannot be an alliance with Congress that does not honour the coalition dharma'
Reacting to the voting, chief minister Kamal Nath said, "The BJP says daily that we are a minority government and one which could fall any day."
'It is a well-thought-out decision. I feel it is difficult for him now to step back.'
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