This time Modi has no emotive message to take to the stump. Muscular nationalism doesn't work against the backdrop of China's successive inroads into Indian territory. Rising prices is a sore point that cuts across class and caste barriers; unprecedented levels of unemployment has the youth in a ferment. This has reduced the BJP campaign to a laundry list of recycled grievances and thinly veiled communal appeals, neither of which are working as well as they have in the past, argues Prem Panicker.
According to the Congress, 37 leaders associated with JD-S in the 2018 assembly polls, have joined the party so far, in the run up to the upcoming elections.
The Kamareddy constituency attracted attention ever since KCR announced his decision to contest from there and the contest hot up as Congress fielded Revanth Reddy to take him on.
"We have built this party (Congress), we have built this house. I am a part of it...A mother will give everything to her child," he said.
Party sources said United Progressive Allinace chairperson Sonia Gandhi is likely to reach Delhi on Wednesday from Himachal Pradesh and is expected to meet some leaders who are part of the decision-making process in Karnataka.
Here's how some of the heavyweights fared in the Karnataka elections.
The Karnataka legislative assembly on Wednesday witnessed chaotic and unruly scenes as angry Bharatiya Jansata Party legislators tore copies of bills and the agenda, and threw them at the deputy speaker, who was presiding, following which Speaker U T Khader suspended 10 of them for the remainder of the session.
A woman drowned on Sunday after a car she was travelling in with her family got stuck in neck-deep water at KR Circle underpass in Bengaluru, just a stone's throw from Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power of Karnataka.
'I have faith in the party high command. I have certain principles. I can also take about 50 legislators and do the shouting, but for me the discipline of the party is important. If people like us don't follow things, there won't be any discipline in the party. I have said that if the high command gives me the responsibility, I will take it up. I have not said I won't'
Asserting that his government will implement the five poll 'guarantees' promised ahead of the assembly polls, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said officials have shared their inputs on financial implications, and the cabinet will meet on June 2 to decide on the implementation.
The explosion took place at Rameshwaram Cafe in Brookefield in East Bengaluru on Friday. A man wearing a cap, mask and glasses is the prime suspect in the case and is still untraceable,
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said the police are conducting in-depth investigation into the bomb blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe and are looking into all angles.
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.
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.
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."
The BJP also went on to label Kaul a "Pakistani sympathiser" and posted headings of a couple of her writings on X.
What some of our leaders were up to on Thursday, September 7, 2023.
Doddamani has maintained a low profile; he has always worked actively behind the scenes in managing and strategising for Kharge's successive electoral campaign.
The Rajya Sabha election scene in Karnataka heated up with the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (Secular) combine fielding its second candidate, even though the alliance has the strength to win only one out four seats.
Seeking clarification, Karnataka Governor has sent back to the government a bill that sought to collect funds from temples with over Rs 10 lakh annual income, citing that a case concerning the earlier related act and amendments made to it is still pending in Supreme Court.
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.
Two Covid-19 related deaths and 20 fresh cases were reported in Karnataka, according to a Health bulletin issued on Wednesday.
In a letter to the Karnataka chief secretary, the Commission said the state government did not obtain prior approval from it for publishing the advertisements, an action violative of the poll code instructions issued to central and state governments years ago.
'There must be ideological differences but Savarkar is a freedom fighter, then ask Siddaramaiah, whose poster must be put, of Dawood Ibrahim?'
Udupi superintendent of police Hakay Akshay Machhindra too confirmed that the case has been handed over to the CID.
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.
The 79-year old veteran leader, who has already announced his retirement from electoral politics, said there is no question of him sitting at home, and after the assembly session he will tour the state and campaign for the party and its candidates.
The marathon raids against Boudh Distillery Private Limited, its promoters and others entered the fifth day on Sunday.
Several activists of pro-Kannada organisations were also whisked away by the police at Town Hall, as they gathered there to stage a protest.
Sidda launches free bus travel scheme for women
'Rahul Gandhi never gets firsthand information. He does not know what is good or bad going on in the party.'
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said he has given details about the state's stand and facts regarding the raging border dispute with Maharashtra to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is likely to call a meeting of chief ministers of both states next week.
'Free this and free that, and the voters were with them.'
Even as the grand old party seeks to promote opposition unity ahead of the hustings next year, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, however, would be conspicuous by her absence at the event at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
'People of the state who bless me will give a befitting replay to the Congress.'
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.
The school authorities immediately alerted police, who reached the institutions concerned with the bomb disposal squads and anti-sabotage check teams, they said, while indicating the bomb threat could be a hoax.
The Congress on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Karnataka ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from its lone southern citadel with a comfortable majority in a morale booster win that will be key for reviving its electoral fortunes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority Commissioner Manoj Rajan said, 'We have got a message that a group of 31 people hailing from Karnataka are stranded in Sudan. We have informed the Ministry of External Affairs about it.'
Hakki Pikkis are a semi-nomadic tribe, traditionally of bird catchers and hunters, from Karnataka. Their knowledge of the forest and traditional medicine is extensive and is prized by the Sudanese community.
