Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara has hinted at his interest in becoming Chief Minister if there is a leadership change in the state. This comes amid demands for a Dalit CM and speculation about a power-sharing agreement between the current CM and Deputy CM.
The opposition Congress in Karnataka will complete the process of identifying probable candidates in 150 assembly segments in the state by March-end in anticipation of a snap poll this year.
On whether injustice has been done to Dalits by not giving a DCM post to the community, he said the people, especially the Dalit community, have huge expectations.
The Karnataka high court on Monday sought an explanation from the Indian National Congress for collecting Rs 10,000 as party fund from its members who are aspiring candidates.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that offenders should be punished to the full extent of law regardless of who they are.
Amid fanfare, hundreds of candidates, including key politicians B S Yeddyurappa, G Parameshwara and Siddaramaiah, entered the fray on Monday for the May five assembly elections as a festive atmosphere prevailed in many segments.
Congress's K R Ramesh Kumar will be the speaker of Karnataka's Vidhana Soudha (assembly), while the deputy speaker will be appointed from the JD-S.
Holding Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurapppa responsible for the alleged telephone tapping of Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde, Congress on Friday demanded his immediate resignation and a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the episode.
Congress and Left parties on Thursday demanded the resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa following his indictment by the state Lokayukta on illegal mining issue but a defensive Bharatiya Janata Party ruled out his stepping down.
A list of constituencies, which have placed on high alert in Karnataka, has been drawn out by the Election Commission. These constituencies, in which security has been tightened, will see a number of heavyweight candidates in the fray.
The longest-serving state party president since October 2010, Parameshwara has remained a hardcore loyalist of the party ever since his political debut through the Congress.
Congress leader Narayanaswamy is seen purportedly splashing the liquid filled in a plastic bottle twice inside a city corporation office after the official there allegedly refused to provide a fake land document.
Infosys co-founder and Unique Identification Authority of India Chairman Nandan Nilekani, tipped to contest from Bangalore South on a Congress ticket, will be officially joining the ruling party on Sunday.
More than three years after assuming office, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will effect a major reshuffle of his ministry on Sunday in a bid to refurbish administration with several ministers facing the axe.
Days after the Karnataka governor granted sanction for the prosecution of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority case, the Congress' top leadership on Friday expressed its backing for him and alleged that the Centre had unleashed a systematic assault through a 'puppet governor' to destabilise an elected government.
All senior leaders will be along with Rahul Gandhi during these programmes and this will be the 'first leg' of the campaign by the Congress president.
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.
Nilekani has been maintaining silence on reports about his political plans, which has gained more currency after the KPCC reportedly shortlisted his name among the three probable candidates for Bangalore south recently.
Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna on Saturday floated the idea of having three more Deputy Chief Ministers in Karnataka, and said he will discuss it with the Congress high command, keeping in mind the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
This is a brief background of the new Cabinet Ministers.
Amidst alleged power struggles within the ruling Congress in Karnataka, AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala has called for discipline within the party, emphasizing that the party is paramount. This comes as the state's chief minister and deputy chief minister submitted a consolidated report on the performance of 31 ministers to Surjewala, fueling speculation about a potential cabinet reshuffle.
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.
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.
Accusing the Congress of pursuing a "divisive agenda", the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday asked its chief ministers to trash Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's directive -- that no innocent Muslim youth should be wrongfully detained in the name of terror.
He, however, reiterated his allegation that the BJP was trying to lure MLAs of the ruling combine.
"Modi ji stop giving speeches and start working, because you don't have much time," he said.
The meeting was convened by the party to assess whether its flock was intact amid speculation that some of the MLAs had switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
A case of attempt to murder was registered on Monday against Congress MLA J N Ganesh in connection with the alleged brawl with lawmaker colleague Anand Singh at a resort, police said.
'Somewhere in the midst of the three milestones of 1881, 1984 and 1999 are the clues that provide the answer to the troubling corrosion of Karnataka politics: The disappearance of values, the criminalisation of politics, and the complete collapse of ideology,' says Krishna Prasad, former editor-in-chief, Outlook.
Siddaramaiah said he was not unhappy about the Congress-JD(S) coalition as was being projected, and there was no doubt about the stability of the government.
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.
Nagaraj reached Mumbai accompanied by Karnataka BJP president B S Yeddyurappa's personal assistant Santosh and BJP MLA R Ashok.
Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav, his party colleague Pawan K Verma in Bihar and senior Congress leaders B K Hariprasad and Rajiv Gowda of Karnataka were among the 12 candidates who filed their nominations on Monday on the last day for June 19 elections for Rajya Sabha berths in 4 states.
Over the past week, Rahul Gandhi has replaced office-bearers in charge of party units in Gujarat and Karnataka and Goa, and brought in young leaders as secretaries. These changes are unlikely to be a one-time exercise and poll-bound states would get the primary attention.
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 BJP emerged as the single largest party but fell nine short of a majority, while the Congress, JD-S stitch alliance to keep saffron party out.
Counting of votes will take place on May 15.
Congress leadership would take a call on who would be its deputy chief minister on Tuesday.
The less charitable in the party say he owes his appointment Sonia Gandhi -- the family wanted someone who wouldn't talk back and would not exert himself too much, notes Aditi Phadnis.
The 13 month-old Karnataka coalition government of JD-S and Congress slumped into crisis following the resignation of their 11 MLAs from the membership of the state assembly on Saturday.
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