Here is a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the two aspiring CMs.
Oxygen crisis deepened in certain parts of Karnataka on Tuesday, with the deaths of seven COVID patients in Kalaburagi and Belagavi allegedly due to oxygen shortage.
Police are probing various angles, including the assailants coming from neighbouring Kerala.
With Karnataka Chief Minister-designate Siddaramaiah all set to install his Cabinet next week, lobbying for ministerial berths has intensified.
CM Siddaramaiah called it a 'politically motivated' move.
A total of 22,27,506 farmers have obtained loan of about Rs 10,736 crore from cooperative banks in the state.
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.
What some of our leaders were up to on Tuesday.
Security was stepped up in Ramanagara, Shivakumar's home district, on Wednesday as a precautionary measure in light of his supporters staging protests at multiple places after some media outlets claimed that he lost the race for the chief minister's post to Siddaramaiah.
If the exit polls in Karnataka are to be believed, the Congress will manage to scrape through and get a thin majority in the state assembly when the votes are counted on Wednesday. But the party may have a tough time in selecting a chief minister as senior leaders Dr G Parameshwar and Siddaramaiah are both eyeing the coveted post.
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.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was also in Karnataka on Thursday to take part in a programme for the 115th birth anniversary of Sri Shivakumara Swamiji at the Siddaganaga Mutt in Tumakuru.
He said, the fresh budget of the new Congress government, which he will be presenting on July 7, is likely to be of the size Rs 3,35,000 crore.
Modi lashed out at the Siddaramaiah government over alleged corruption, saying there is not a single minister who is not facing allegations of financial wrongdoing.
The new ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor T N Chaturvedi in the Vidhan Soudha premises.
"We have a commitment before the people of Karnataka. Parliament elections are ahead. So, I have to bow to the AICC president and the Gandhi family. In the larger interest of the party (I have agreed to the formula) and why not, because sometimes the ice should break. Ultimately, there is a responsibility towards what we have a commitment to the people of Karnataka and we have to deliver," he said.
Demonstrations and attempts to block roads by burning tires were reported from Ramanagara, Chennapattana and few neighbouring towns, where a bandh has been called by Shivakumar's supporters.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who has been in poor health, walked a few kilometres in Mandya, Karnataka.
Family members of the dead also staged a demonstration at the hospital and alleged there was a shorten of oxygen and raised slogans.
This will be the fourth stint for Yeddyurappa as the chief minister -- the last one was after the May 2018 assembly polls.
With parliamentary elections round the corner, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka 'poached' two MLAs each from the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) in the last three days. While the number of new entrants into the BJP stands at four, party sources told rediff.com that the number is likely to go up to at least 10 as feelers have already been sent to the Siddaramaiah camp.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who is visiting Karnataka, on Sunday appreciated the people for voting out a 'fascist' Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, but also cautioned people about the recent developments in Delhi, saying it was a wake-up call for everyone as it can happen anywhere in the country.
Amid signs of factionalism within the state unit, Kharge is likely to instruct the party leaders to work in a united manner for ensuring victory.
Nagaraj reached Mumbai accompanied by Karnataka BJP president B S Yeddyurappa's personal assistant Santosh and BJP MLA R Ashok.
A photograph of Darshan hanging out with three others, including a rowdy-sheeter, on the lawns of the jail had gone viral on Sunday, sparking a row.
The Congress would also take inspiration from history as it was from Karnataka that an embattled Indira Gandhi had revived her dwindling political future by winning a Lok Sabha bypoll from Chikmagalur.
The BJP would win at least 130 seats and there is no need to take any party's support, Shah claimed.
"Modi ji stop giving speeches and start working, because you don't have much time," he said.
The JD-S supremo reiterated that his grandson should be given the harshest punishment under the law "if found guilty".
Asserting that the JD-S does not practice opportunistic politics, Gowda while defending the decision to ally with the BJP said, "This party has to be saved, which has been his pain and struggle for decades, and there is no selfishness in this....I took the decision."
While the Congress alleged that the Vidhana Soudha has become a shopping mall and the BJP stood for 'Broker Janata Party', Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai reminded the opposition how Rs 25 lakh cash was allegedly seized from the staff of Congress MLA from Chamarajanagar C Puttarangashetty four years ago.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Karnataka legislative assembly on Monday passed a unanimous resolution condemning the recent defacing of Shivaji Maharaj and Sangolli Rayanna's statues and burning of Kannada flag, and said such incidents will be considered as an act of sedition and strict action will be taken against those involved under 'Goonda Act.'
State employees in Karnataka will have to wait longer for wage hike.
Shettar alleged that he had been humiliated by the BJP by denying him a ticket and that party is today in the control of "very few people."
'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'
The police which are probing the matter on Bommai's instruction had arrested B R Naidu, the former chief of Congress' Karnataka unit social media team, on Wednesday night from his residence.
With a significant number of Opposition leaders present at the swearing-in ceremony of the Congress government in Karnataka, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said Opposition unity requires much more than optics of this nature and stressed the need for meeting of minds, a common agenda and sacrificing partisan interests.
The government has already implemented one of its five poll guarantees, "Shakti", by providing free services for women in public transport buses.
With one year left for assembly elections in Karnataka, the last big bastion of the Congress, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has found an emotive issue to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party as the latter prepares the ground for a fight to grab power. Raghu Krishnan and Nikita Puri report.
