Stepping up pressure on Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, Governor H R Bhardwaj on Saturday appeared to suggest a trial of strength for the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the wake of the Supreme Court quashing the Speaker's decision to disqualify rebel party MLAs.
Keshubhai Patel, who was the rallying point for the detractors of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, and Rana were accused of 'sabotaging' the party's poll prospects through their public statements, which 'helped' the ruling BJP's political rivals in the state.
Former minister Roop Das Kashyap and former MLA Rakesh Pathania were suspended when they refused to withdraw their nominations from Kusumpti in Shimla district and Nurpur assembly constituencies on the last date of withdrawal today. Karan Singh, who served as the education minister in the P K Dhumal government in 1998-2003, left the party and decided to contest from Banjar seat for Mayawati's BSP after being denied the BJP ticket.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday came out in defence of its senior leader L K Advani, who has been facing attacks from party rebels on the Kandahar issue, saying this was 'wrong and uncalled for' as the hijack crisis was resolved after consulting all parties and experts. "People accusing Advani on Kandahar is wrong and uncalled for. The issue is already resolved and it is an 11-year old story," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
The future course of Karnataka politics may be decided on Monday by a three-judge bench of the high court comprising Justices Abdul Nasir, Mohan Shanthan Goudar and A S Bopanna. The bench will deliver a verdict on the validity of the suspension of five independent Members of Legislative Assembly by Speaker K G Bopaiah.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has claimed Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had come to his residence and cried that he will be arrested by a central agency if he did not switch over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), before revolting against the Sena leadership.
These resignations came a day after BJP high-command issued notices to Patel and Rana and suspended two other leaders, Vallabh Kathiria and Somabhai Patel -- 'for hurting the party's interests' during the Gujarat elections.
The meeting is expected to start at 11 am at the hotel on the city outskirts where Congress legislators in support of the Ashok Gehlot government are camping.
The Dussehra rally is the major event in the annual calendar of Shiv Sena since the days of the late Bal Thackeray.
Gehlot alleged that that the BJP wanted to repeat what it had done in Madhya Pradesh.
The truce between the warring factions of the Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed its first political victim when the controversial woman minister Shobha Karandlaje, a confidante of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, was forced to resign under pressure from rebels.
The Rajya Sabha MP has been asked to depose before the federal agency at its office in south Mumbai on June 28 and record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
In a major political development in Karnataka, three independent legislators -- G Shekhar, Sangadgi, and Narendra Swami -- on Monday called on Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa at the latter's residence in Bangalore. The BJP needs the support of three more legislators to achieve simple majority in the 224-member Karnataka assembly.
Battling challenges and threats of being toppled, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, heading the first-ever Bharatiya Janata Party government in the south, is all set to complete three years in office on Monday.
Dissident activity within the Gujarat BJP gained momentum on Tuesday with some members of legislative assembly from the anti-Narendra Modi camp visiting the house of former chief minister Keshubhai Patel.
Thackeray also took a veiled dig at chief minister Shinde as the allocation of portfolios is yet to be done though the cabinet was expanded recently after a long wait.
In an apparent reference to Salim Shervani and rebel SP Member of Parliament Shafiq-ur-Rehman Barq, SP general secretary Amar Singh said, "They have suddenly realised the virtue of opposing Kalyan Singh after being denied nomination for Lok Sabha elections."
A lacklustre show by the Congress in Bihar seems to have proved costly for the opposition grand alliance, as it dragged down the RJD too from government formation in the Hindi heartland state.
After waiting for over five days, 13 Bharatiya Janata Party rebel MLA's have tendered their resignations to Speaker of the legislative assembly KG Bopaiah.
The development came as the Thackeray-led party is reeling under the impact of Eknath Shinde's rebellion and the loss of power in Maharashtra.
There is more at stake on the outcome of the two-phased election than the state of Gujarat. Only after the polls, the Left parties and the Congress party will decide their future strategy and the fate of the India-United States nuclear deal. Also, on the basis of the election results, the Congress will assess the advantages of going in for parliamentary elections around April 2008, a year before schedule
Rebel BJP parliamentarian from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath, on Tuesday announced plans to field 70 to 75 candidates in 14 districts of Eastern UP.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has entered rebel mode again. He is holed up with 30 loyal MLAs in a bid to pressurise the Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership to make him the chief minister again.
BJP state president Mangal Pandey said that Sunil Kumar and Renu Kushwaha have joined the party and RJD MLA Braj Kishore Singh has joined the party.
A last-ditch attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party high command to resolve the ongoing crisis in the Karnataka government appears to have failed, with the rebel state ministers -- Tourism Minister Janardhan Reddy, Revenue Minister Karunakar Reddy, Chairman of Karnataka Milk Federation Somashekhar Reddy and Health Minister B Sriramulu -- sticking to their demand for the removal of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi called on Bharatiya Janata Party rebel Keshubhai Patel at his residence to seek the blessings. After being sworn-in as chief minister for the third consecutive time, Modi visited Patel's home in Gandhinagar on Tuesday. Keshubhai, a former chief minister, was issued a notice along with some other BJP leaders last week, for hurting the interests of the party during the elections
'After the Parliament election results many people are confused and that is why this crisis has erupted
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader B S Yediyurappa took the oath as Deputy Chief Minister.
Shinde said Patil told him that he did not mean to disrespect the late Sena supremo.
In one state, the BJP sweeps in Modi's name -- and only because of Modi's name. In the other state, Modi's name did not work. Himachal underlines the limitations of Modi's magic, observes Shekhar Gupta.
According to the exit poll, if present voting patterns continue, the BSP could emerge as the single largest party with 131-141 seats against 98 in 2002 elections, followed by the Samajwadi Party with 109-119 seats (145 in 2002).
Talking about the SYL issue he said that it would be better for the chief minister of various states to sit down and sort out the matter.
Sources said Rawat left the meeting as he was angry that a proposal for a medical college in Kotdwar -- his constituency -- was not being cleared by the cabinet.
He also demanded mid-term elections in Maharashtra, saying that people should be allowed to take a stand on toppling of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by him.
Shinde said some people took an "adamant stand" after the polls which implied that they didn't want to form a government with the BJP despite both the parties winning the mandate of the people and resolving the issue of the post of the CM.
It is a victory for Kuldeep Bishnoi in Hisar. But indirectly, the Bharatiya Janata Party has made roots into the fort of Bhajan Lal sympathisers.
'The 2024 general elections proved that UP is not Gujarat.'
Former ministers have either maintained silence or supported the `no-repeat' formula adopted by the top Bharatiya Janata Party leadership.
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