'Shivakumar's relationship with the BJP and the RSS is not adversarial in the way Siddaramaiah's has been.' 'Siddaramaiah has publicly attacked the RSS on record; Shivakumar has made no such statement at any point.' 'He vociferously defended the Karnataka government's celebration of Ram temple consecration with RSS-ish arguments.'
Three Congress candidates, including All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge, and one Bharatiya Janata Party nominee were declared elected "unanimously" to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka on Thursday, election officials said.
D K Shivakumar has been sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, with Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administering the oath of office and secrecy. The ceremony also saw 13 other ministers, including a Deputy CM, taking their oaths, attended by prominent Congress leaders and religious figures.
The Supreme Court of India has questioned the continued provision of reservation benefits to children from economically and educationally advanced families within backward classes, highlighting concerns about social mobility and fairness.
Siddaramaiah, a veteran politician with roots in the Janata Parivar, has had a remarkable journey, consolidating his position in the Congress party to become the longest-serving Chief Minister of Karnataka.
'In the (election) affidavit, he had declared Rs 1,400 crores as his assets. He has educational institutions, real estate, malls, etc.'
Even if D K Shivakumar wanted to oust Siddaramaiah, whose support would he take?
The shrewd politician that he is, Siddaramaiah figured his rival had no option but to lump it, points out Aditi Phadnis.
The Social and Educational Survey, popularly known as the 'caste census' in Karnataka, commenced on Monday, with enumerators going door-to-door to collect data.
These few and far between 'sops for votes' are the reason why the Jenu Kuruba community, which is fighting the government for decades for even the basic amenities -- like land rights, access to water and electricity -- bother to cast their votes, said J K Thimma, head of the settlement.
Eshwarappa would turn 75 in June, the unofficial age bar in the BJP for leaders to contest polls and hold official positions.
Fakira Dingaleshwar Swami of Shirahatti Fakkireshwar Math, a prominent Veerashaiva Lingayat seer, on Monday said he has decided to contest as an independent candidate from Dharwad segment in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad's statements regarding ministerial and chief ministerial posts, along with his veiled dig at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to have created a sense of unease within the ruling party in Karnataka.
The cabinet decided to bring the religious minorities under the EWS category.
Siddaramaiah, who hails from the shepherd Kuruba caste, holds the record for presenting the highest number of Budgets in Karnataka -- 13 so far. He has often spoken about how he was mocked in 1994 before he presented his first Budget. 'Some people asked, "Can he count sheep?",' Siddaramaiah told a regional news channel.
The government on Wednesday approved the inclusion of certain communities in the lists of Scheduled Tribes in Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, fulfilling long-pending demands from these states.
The Karnataka government can have 34 ministers. Ten of them, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar, were sworn in on May 20.
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.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said if the Congress comes to power in Karnataka, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high in the state and it will be 'afflicted with riots'.
The Congress seems to be heading for the Karnataka polls so far on the strength of its local leadership and focusing on issues concerning the state, making corruption a central theme of its campaigning.
They are the contenders, the leaders of parties that will finally form a government in Karnataka.
Siddaramaiah's anti-urban bias, which he does not bother to hide, may become the Congress government's biggest weakness unless it is corrected.
Mallikarjun Kharge, meanwhile, came to the defence of his son, saying he never made those comments.
Multiple challenges, particularly with regard to cabinet formation, stare at Siddaramaiah as he takes over as the new chief minister of Karnataka, nudging out party colleague and state Congress president D K Shivakumar -- who will now be his deputy.
A renewed energy seems to have been infused into the 75-year old Congress leader Siddaramaiah's gait as he walked to address a packed press conference in Mysore on Saturday.
In an election where every seat will matter, micro-strategising is going to be the order of the day. And in such a situation, party infighting - in all parties --could lead to unpredictable results.
Congress leaders and workers from Kolar have been exerting pressure on the Congress legislature party leader to contest from there.
Siddaramaiah, visibly embarrassed by the incident, wiped his cheek with a big smile.
The constituency comprises nearly 60,000 Kurubas -- a community which the CM belongs to -- and a Muslim population of at least 20,000. With their unified backing, there is no overt danger to the CM, reports Aditi Phadnis.
'New Delhi is in a perpetual dilemma. It can't do without Yediyurappa, but it doesn't want a powerful CM. It stokes the opponents within against him. The result is he has never settled down in office, even in the present tenure'
Caste composition is going to be a huge determinant for winning the constituency where Vokkaligas and Lingayats constitute a vast majority, which puts Siddaramaiah in a weaker turf given that he belongs to the Kuruba community.
The Modi-Shah duo are standing with B S Yediyurappa: But B L Santhosh refuses to be silenced.
In the course of his various tenures, Yediyurappa made many adversaries. Bommai, by contrast, knows the Opposition well and has many friends, cutting across parties -- he is, after all, only a 2008 BJP entrant.
Yediyurappa is made of sterner stuff and is not going to yield so easily.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday expanded his 17-month old cabinet, inducting seven ministers, and indicated that excise minister H Nagesh would be dropped. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan.
According to some accounts, internal Congress surveys indicated a tough battle for the chief minister in Chamundeshwari.
The BJP is has set its sight on regaining power by winning 150 out of 224 assembly seats.
Here's a map of the endangered languages from around the world.
The Congress that had announced a list of 218 candidates in one go for the 224 member Karnataka legislative assembly on April 15, had kept the names of candidates for six seats on hold.
The current crisis Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is facing is a cumulative effect of inattention to water management and the fiscal burden of populist promises, says Aditi Phadnis.
'It must have stung Devendra Fadnavis to see Modi asking MPs at the BJP parliamentary party meeting to give Yediyurappa a standing ovation for his victory in the by-elections that has resulted in pulling the BJP government in Karnataka off the ventilator,' notes Aditi Phadnis.
