Top leaders of 26 opposition parties were arriving in Bengaluru on Monday for a two-day brainstorming session with a call for unity and are expected to chalk out their joint programme aimed at defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Shivakumar also claimed that the BJP wanted to call for elections in Karnataka soon after the 2022 Gujarat poll results were out but backtracked on the move.
Stirring up controversy, a Lingayat seer on Monday alleged that mutts (monasteries) are equally affected due to rampant corruption prevailing in Karnataka as they too pay a commission of 30 per cent to get the sanctioned grants released for them.
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the incoming government in Karnataka would not only give its stamp of approval for the five pre-poll guarantees announced by the party in the first cabinet meeting itself but also pass an order to this effect immediately.
The bill was passed by voice vote on Tuesday night.
Karnataka Horticulture Minister Munirathna on Thursday said he would be filing a Rs 50-crore defamation case and a criminal defamation case against the Karnataka State Contractors' Association, which has made a 40 per cent commission charge against the government and accused him of collecting money.
The Congress victory in Karnataka, its first big state since 2018, puts the party back in the game for general elections as it re-establishes primacy in the opposition space that is currently vastly fragmented despite efforts to cobble up a united front against the BJP.
Karnataka Congress working president Satish Jarkiholi, who is in the eye of a political storm for his statement on the origins of the word 'Hindu' and its "dirty meaning", on Wednesday withdrew the remark and expressed "regret" if it has hurt anyone's sentiments.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka had the last laugh as it won all the three Rajya Sabha seats it had contested in, out of total of four from the state that went for polls on Friday, while the Congress managed to win only one of the two seats to which it had fielded its candidates.
Sonia will likely be assisted by two vice presidents: Ashok Gehlot in charge of party affairs in north India with probably P Chidambaram doing likewise for south India.
Karnataka Minister Umesh Katti died due to cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Tuesday night, official sources said.
An unusual Congress protest against rising LPG prices.
Opposition parties on Sunday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party after Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and eight others were inducted into the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, saying the ruling party's 'washing machine' has resumed its operation to clean tainted leaders and it was an 'ED-facilitated power grab'.
Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Gujarat on Thursday had announced that the Bhagavad Gita will be a part of the school syllabus for Classes 6 to 12 across the state from the academic year 2022-23.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's comprehensive defeat to the Congress in Karnataka where the two parties ran a campaign of contrasts has left the ruling party much to ponder as the two rivals are facing a direct contest in three more state polls this year in the run-up to the all-important 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Why did Karnataka's economic prosperity fail to influence the nature of electoral promises made by political parties in the run-up to the assembly elections? asks A K Bhattacharya.
The Bharatiya Janata Party rejected this was any sort of demonetisation and instead reminded the Congress that even during the rule of Manmohan Singh, old currency notes were taken off circulation.
With the election campaign in Karnataka witnessing a bitter war of words between the BJP and the Congress, both the parties rushed to the Election Commission, seeking ban on electioneering by top leaders of the other side.
Post-Karnataka, it would be a mistake to underestimate the BJP. It should be amply clear by now that the Right-Wing is more an elaborate theatre than a single scene, actor or play, warns Shyam G Menon.
Amid the raging controversy regarding Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, the Vokkaliga chieftains who according to a section allegedly killed erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan, a prominent seer of the community on Monday urged putting an end to the issue, citing lack of historical evidence in this regard.
The Congress in Karnataka on Wednesday found itself in a tight spot after a video showed a purported conversation between the party media coordinator M A Saleem and former Lok Sabha member V S Ugrappa attributing the Congress state president D K Shivakumar's involvement in a scam when he was a minister.
All the issues around which the grand old party wanted to fight the May 10 assembly elections have been put on the backburner as party state president DK Shivakumar in damage control mode took up a temple run.
Members of the Karnataka legislative assembly on Monday demanded a thorough probe into the death of chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat along with his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor on December 8.
'There is a conscious move by the BJP to distance itself from the current state leadership.'
'Oommen Chandy always had time for his people and valued their voices.' 'There was no rest for him as long as the betterment of his fellow citizens was at stake.' Ambassador Venu Rajamony, who knew the former Kerala chief minister for half a century, salutes a beloved leader who worked tirelessly for the welfare of its people.
"One thing I want to make it clear that this case will be thoroughly investigated. There will not be any interference or direction from our side. Police will independently investigate the case and truth will come out," Bommai said addressing a press conference in Mangaluru.
Voting came to an end for the Karnataka assembly elections on Wednesday at 6 pm with data showing a voter turnout of 65.69 per cent an hour ago.
He also announced unemployment allowance for the youth, as the party's fourth poll guarantee, on coming to power.
The top guns of all the major political parties were on a campaign blitz across the state in the past few days, even as the ruling BJP has been striving to break the 38-year-old pattern of alternating governments and retain its southern citadel.
Expressing surprise over Congress fielding a second candidate 'all of a sudden', senior JD-S leader and former Minister H D Revanna requested the national party for support to keep the 'communal forces' out of the race.
The 40 per cent commission charge has once again come to the fore to haunt the Basavaraj Bommai-led government in Karnataka, with the state contractors association on Wednesday stating that they will be writing another letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard.
The court directed the Congress to explain whether they were adhering to COVID norms such as wearing face masks, and maintaining social distancing.
Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Monday said the party's national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has agreed to campaign and spend time in the state, for the assembly elections next year.
He also expressed confidence about getting justice in the Supreme Court, as Karnataka's stand on the issue is both legal and constitutional.
What is the Amul Vs Nandini battle. Why does the opposition see red over the Gujarat dairy brand's Bengaluru foray with its brand of milk and curd. An explainer seeks to shed light on the issue.
On the 32nd day of the yatra that started on September 7, Gandhi said some political parties were trying to spread hatred in the country by misleading youngsters.
In Vijayapura, Yediyurappa said neither he nor his son have made any such statements, and would not like to react to comments made by someone close to Vijayendra.
Lingayats are said to constitute about 17 per cent of Karnataka's population, and the community has dominance in as many as 100 out of total 224 constituencies, majority of these seats being in north Karnataka region.
It remains to be seen whether the ban of its parent organisation will weaken the SDPI or will it be able to further consolidate its voter base.
Congress legislators will spend Thursday night inside the Karnataka legislative assembly and council, demanding the sacking of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa and also that he be booked for sedition for his statement about the national flag.
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