Ignoring the recommendation of the state unit to field Vijayendra for the June 3 biennial elections to seven seats of Karnataka Legislative Council, the party central leadership on Tuesday announced names of four candidates, hours before the deadline for filing of nominations ended.
The veteran leader is also expected to use his good offices in unifying the faction-ridden party in the state, ahead of assembly elections just six months away.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will appear before a court in Gujarat's Surat city on Thursday when it is expected to deliver its verdict in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remarks, party leaders said on Wednesday.
Ending days of suspense, the Congress on Thursday announced Siddaramaiah as the next chief minister of Karnataka and D K Shivakumar as his only deputy in the soon-to-formed cabinet.
Having burnt the fingers in the Uttar Pradesh elections due to over dependence on central leaders and a weak state organizational set up, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has told party men in Karnataka in clear terms that "assembly elections are not won from national capital".
Accusing Congress of 'abuse culture', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to punish those indulging in abuse, while casting their vote in polling booths on May 10.
The Law Commission had on June 14 invited views from all stakeholders, including people and recognised religious organisations, on the politically sensitive issue.
'Votes-for-notes no longer only means cash and goodies for fence-sitting voters,' points out Sunil Sethi.
A girl wearing hijab will become the prime minister of the country one day, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi has said amid the controversy over Muslim women's headscarves.
Since 2018, the BJP has failed to win a majority in any of the state polls. It lost power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in 2018 followed by Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The party managed to form government in Karnataka by winning over opposition MLAs and in Haryana by allying with a regional party.
"If the high command wants, I am ready to take up the responsibility," the former deputy chief minister told reporters while demanding that a Dalit should become CM.
'It is not just about numbers. Sometimes coalitions and alliances have symbolic value.'
At least a dozen rallies are expected to follow in the coming days, party sources said.
The Election Commission on Monday asked the Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party to provide "verifiable and traceable" facts by Tuesday evening regarding its newspaper advertisement describing the Congress as "the most corrupt party in the world".
'Do you want Tipu or Savarkar? Where should we send Tipu Sultan? What did Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda do? In the same way he should be knocked out and sent off'
With reports surfacing of differences between Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis, Fadnavis was out seeking new allies. A disgruntled Ajit Pawar was easy to persuade.
Keeping their eyes on the assembly elections, the BJP has been trying to win favour with the southern regional parties, observes R Rajagopalan
Will Vijay will go the most successful MGR/Jayalalithaa way, or that of Vijayakanth, Seeman or Kamalahaasan, or will he end up as another Rajinikanth who cries wolf at the last minute and quits the scene even before it all had really begun, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
If Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai bought it in 2015, did he get prior approval from the Union home ministry, and did he include it in his annual wealth returns, sections of the media want to know. N Sathiya Moorthy on the curious case of the 'Rafale' watch.
Shivakumar also said that the central observers have spoken to Sukhu, party MLAs and state unit chief Pratibha Singh and all differences have been ironed out.
By comparing I.N.D.IA. with banned terror outfits, Modi has exhibited the kind of nervousness never ever associated with him even at the height of the Gujarat riots, and certainly since his prime ministerial days, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
A day ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from Karnataka, Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday wrote an open letter to Janata Dal-Secular MLAs requesting them to cast their 'conscience vote' in favour of his party's second candidate Mansoor Ali Khan, stating that his win will be a victory of 'secular ideology' followed by both parties.
Kharge also urged voters to take pride in the fact that he as a bhoomi putra of Karnataka had been made All India Congress Committee president, and sought a win for the Congress in that name.
"If a film Kashmir Files is made, then at least, there should also be film 'Lakhimpur Files', where farmers were crushed under the wheels of a jeep," the SP president told journalists in Sitapur district on Wednesday when asked for his opinion on the Bollywood movie.
The assembly bypolls in Bihar and Maharashtra, scheduled for November 3, are set to be the first electoral test of the popularity of the respective state governments after a change in the political alignment.
In Tripura, the challenge for the chief minister is less from the alliance partners and more from his own party, the BJP.
Over the last five days, Modi visited all of south, held roadshows, made an aggressive bid for his party, and took on the rivals with full gusto, especially the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu, and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Telangana that was in power for 10 years.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday took serious exception to political statements being made on the sub-judice matter related to the withdrawal of four percent Muslim quota in Karnataka, saying "some sanctity needs to be maintained".
To beat BJP, you either deny them a critical mass of Hindu vote or build a regional leader and party strong enough to protect their turf, observes Shekhar Gupta.
A democracy is one, only if it has a robust Opposition. And as its actions show, the Modi-BJP combine gives two hoots for that. So, the Opposition must learn to convince people why the BJP must go. Else, it can count down to 2029, points out Shyam G Menon.
In the coming days, unless Modi tones down the communal spiel, it will be clear that anxiety continues to drive his mind and clouds his judgment, observes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Polling is underway to elect 119 members of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, with voters queuing up to exercise their franchise amid tight security on Thursday.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Replying to the debate on the motion, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing it again of trying to bring down his government.
'Both the people have a perspective and are people of stature and people of understanding'
'BJP takes Lingayat support and later on they throw them out, ditch them and humiliate them.' After months of speculation Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa resigned from the chief minister's post. A powerful Lingayat community leader, Yediyurappa could not even complete his term, owing to the internal politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party. So how does Lingayat community view his exit? Congress working president, Karnataka state and Lingayat leader Eshwar Khandre speaking to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com, said, "The community which voted him and felt that they will lead the government are now disenchanted."
Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are over. Another set of state elections is due in 2018. Here's an assessment of the next round of the electoral challenge and how it could change India's political equations.
'Are we so ready to believe that in this country whose virtues we constantly shout from the rooftops, there is no single person -- other than Modi -- in a minimum of 272 elected MPs with the talent and ability to lead this country?' asks Prem Panicker.
Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday predicted the rise of the third front to power in the post 2014 Lok Sabha poll scenario.
'As long as Amul was coming in with products it was not a problem because it was something value added and with a shelf life.' 'When it gets into the local market by procuring locally, it cuts into the market-share of local cooperatives.'
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