Hassan seat, has become a bone of contention, as Gowda's daughter-in-law Bhavani Revanna, who has thrown her hat in the ring, has not relented, despite her brother-in-law Kumaraswamy, repeatedly making it clear that she will not be fielded, and instead a 'loyal party worker' will enter the fray.
Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna on Saturday floated the idea of having three more Deputy Chief Ministers in Karnataka, and said he will discuss it with the Congress high command, keeping in mind the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
'Destabilising the Yediyurappa government is not a cakewalk.' 'If he is destabilised, then the BJP will have problems in Karnataka.'
He also said it will be difficult, as he is the lone Congress member in Lok Sabha from Karnataka.
' Modi is for the entire country, not just for Karnataka. He had come for campaigning here. The Congress might have won in Karnataka but has seen defeat across the country. Is it the win of local leaders or state leaders?'
The protesters poured into the city from different parts of the state, particularly the Vokkaliga stronghold of Old Mysuru region, in response to "Raj Bhavan Chalo" call given by various outfits of the community.
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 Chief Minister has been under intense pressure for some time now, over expansion and rejig of the Cabinet not taking place, to make way for the fresh faces, ahead of Assembly elections by April-May next year.
They are the contenders, the leaders of parties that will finally form a government in Karnataka.
'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'
Announcing its first list of 189 candidates on Tuesday, the BJP pitted senior Minister R Ashoka against Siddaramaiah in the Varuna Assembly segment, while V Somanna would take on Shivakumar in Kanakapura.
Chief minister aspirant and Karnataka state Congress president D K Shivakumar on Monday cancelled his Delhi trip, hours after confirming he would be flying to the national capital, fuelling speculation that all is not well in the ruling camp over the CM contender issue.
According to several Congress functionaries, Suresh filed his papers as a "backup plan" in the event of the nomination of Shivakumar getting rejected.
Ending the suspense about the Hassan seat, the party has fielded H P Swaroop, overlooking JD-S patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda's daughter-in-law Bhavani Revanna, who had been firm on contesting from there.
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 Congress fielded former Governor Margaret Alva's son Nivedit Alva from the Kumta assembly seat.
The rift within former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's family over the Hassan ticket for the May 10 assembly polls widened on Tuesday, with Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy invoking the battle of 'Kurukshetra' in the epic Mahabharata to allege that some 'Shakunis' were trying to brainwash his brother H D Revanna.
Rather than a blind reproduction of the government template, a more productive way of enforcing affirmative action in the private sector could be to emulate an American model, suggests Kanika Datta.
'Hindus have never been polarised across Maharashtra in any state election.'
"The Congress have gone and made promises in Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh that they never fulfilled," Rajeev Chandrasekhar claimed.
The 57-year-old Vokkaliga strong man, who has his own support base in parts of old Mysuru region of Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Mandya and neighboring areas was greeted by supporters with flowers, crackers and a mammoth apple garland upon his arrival.
Congress leaders and workers from Kolar have been exerting pressure on the Congress legislature party leader to contest from there.
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.
There are lessons for the Congress to learn from the Karnataka elections of how burying the hatchet among top leaders and not washing dirty linen in public can help, says Ramesh Menon.
'The BJP's defining character is Hindutva. The party's political strategy is based on a combination of Hindutva+Development.'
On his sixth visit this year to Karnataka, where assembly elections are due by May, he also asserted that the 'double engine' government is a necessity for the fast-paced development of the state.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Karnataka on Friday sought to woo farmers, women and younger generation with a slew of welfare measures in its last budget in the current term, also earmarking Rs 1000 crore towards development and renovation of various temples and maths in the state.
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.
The BJP leadership knows it can't boast of governance in the state as the Bommai government has little to show. So, the game plan is to project Modi, who will reiterate how important it is for a state to have the same party ruling in power at the Centre, observes Ramesh Menon.
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.
'We will win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2024.'
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inducting four new faces from Karnataka into his ministry, and chemicals and fertilisers minister D V Sadanda Gowda resigning ahead of the reshuffle, the state's representation in the Union council of ministers now stands at six.
With the family patriarch ageing, his successor H D Kumaraswamy not keeping well, and palpable anger against his other son H D Revanna in the family pocket borough of Holenarsipura, the clan is seemingly in decline.
'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.
The Modi-Shah duo are standing with B S Yediyurappa: But B L Santhosh refuses to be silenced.
He also said former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's younger son and state BJP Vice President B Y Vijayendra is not among the ministers who will be sworn-in.
'The Congress-JD-S alliance will be intact for the next three years, for sure.'
'If Shivakumar and Deve Gowda play the match well, this government will complete five years.'
"Before January 15 next year, when the election will be one year away, we are planning to select candidates for at least 150 assembly constituencies, so that they can start working," Kumaraswamy told reporters.
After Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra began criss-crossing the Hindi heartland, BJP leaders have revived their attacks on 'dynasty politics' and 'family rule' in the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
