Karnataka ministers G Janardhan Reddy and G Karuanakar Reddy, under pressure over allegations of illegal mining, today paid an unscheduled visit to New Delhi and met senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj and Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, after which they dismissed all the charges against them.
The Bharatiya Janata Party high command has issued an ultimatum to Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to put in his papers by 10 am on Monday, according to sources in the party.
While Nagaraj made no clear announcement of taking back resignation, the same was affirmed by Shivakumar while speaking to media outside Nagaraj's residence.
Congress' Sowmya Reddy secured 54,457 votes against her nearest rival from the BJP.
The party desperate to retain power in the state will also prepare dossiers on opposition MLAs to assess the winability of prospective party nominees.
Acting tough, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday divested Social Welfare Minister D Sudhakara of his portfolio and suspended a senior official after a public outcry over the death of 22 beggars in just three days at a government-run Centre in Bangalore.
A Raj Bhavan communication issued on Wednesday states that 14 BJP MLAs and 5 Independents have withdrawn their support from the government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday appeared to have decided to brazen it out in the fight with the Opposition with Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa giving a clean chit to the Reddy brothers facing allegations of illegal mining and ruling out their dismissal from the cabinet.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday called on Governor H R Bhardwaj, who is gunning for the removal of Reddy brothers from the state ministry, and conveyed the government's stand against a CBI inquiry into the illegal mining scam at this stage.
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.
He said it should not be allowed to continue 'even for a minute'.
In an apparent move to quell dissidence in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday expanded his ministry by inducting rebel legislator M P Renukacharya into his cabinet.
Gowda also said he did not know how long the Congress-JD-S government, headed by his son H D Kumaraswamy, would continue and it was in the hands of the senior coalition partner.
Despite his Janata Dal-Secular finishing a poor third in the electoral battlefield, the 58-year-old Vokkaliga leader wore the crown.
Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are over. Another set of state elections is due in 2018. Here's an assessment of the next round of the electoral challenge and how it could change India's political equations.
Putting an end to speculations on Saturday, Justice Hegde told rediff.com, "It is one of the most ridiculous rumours I have ever heard. On the one hand, I have been accused of being the one responsible for B S Yeddyurappa stepping down as chief minister because of my mining report. Now Yeddyurappa has rejoined the BJP and immediately the news floats that I too would be joining the same party. Does this not sound funny to you?
Karnataka Assembly Speaker Jagadish Shettar on Monday quit the post, paving way for his induction into the ministry on Tuesday as part of a compromise formula evolved to end the recent dissidence against Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.
Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday made no secret of his pain in accepting the resignation of his "protege" and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Shobha Karandlaje.
Kumaraswamy made the stunning claim that the BJP offered the MLAs of his party Rs 100 crore and ministerial berths.
Karnataka Minister Shobha Karandlaje, whose scalp is being demanded by the dissidents gunning for Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's ouster, said on Thursday that she would resign "if the party asks for it".
Gowda explained that G T Devegowda intended to say that the JD-S would not oppose every move of BJP just for the heck of it.
In yet another step to implement the truce deal with the dissidents to end the crisis in his government, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday rescinded the transfer orders of some officials, two weeks after he had shunted them out to strike at the rebels gunning for his removal.
Stung by the internal revolt within the party against his style of functioning, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Sunday vowed to 'work together' in the future for the development of the people and the state. "You will see a different Yeddyurappa from tomorrow," he told reporters at midnight at his residence, on arrival from New Delhi, where the Bharatiya Janata Party evolved an 'amicable settlement' to end the two-week long stalemate following the revolt.
The political crisis in Karnataka BJP seemed headed for a resolution with warring factions led by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and the Reddy brothers saying an announcement is likely by this evening.
The lawmakers have said that they had moved the Supreme Court after tendering their resignation, which had also directed the Speaker to consider their resignation.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Saturday told journalists that the ongoing crisis in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state had come to an end. However, rebel leader and state Tourism Minister B Janardhan Reddy, who is demanding a change in the state leadership, declared that he had not changed his stance.Informed sources said that as per the formula, certain changes will be made in the state cabinet.
The Congress on Wednesday asked the Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to prove his secular credentials by banning the right wing Sri Rama Sene.
He alleged that the Siddaramaiah government has been releasing jailed killers and they have been 'given opportunity' once again to kill people.
As the political turmoil lingered on with the ruling coalition making frenetic efforts to win back rebels who have pushed it to the brink of collapse, assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar on Monday announced the confidence motion sought to be moved by Kumaraswamy would be taken up at 11 am on July 18.
B S Yeddyurappa faces his biggest crisis after creating history over a year ago by becoming the first Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister in South India. His seat has been threatened by the Reddy brothers of Bellary, who are in no mood for a compromise and are openly seeking a leadership change in Karnataka. Although the Reddy brothers and Yeddyurappa have been at logger heads in the past, the current crisis appears to be the worst.
The state Congress has written to Sitharaman, asking her to protect the interests of the state by retaining the exhibition in Bengaluru as she was a Rajya Sabha member from the state.
Despite serious corruption charges, this year has seen the resurgence of tainted leaders from across parties and states. Be it Yeddyurappa in Karnataka or Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar -- caste affiliation and an individual candidate's credentials matter far more than his alleged involvement in scams, says Anita Katyal
Describing the attack by self-proclaimed moral police on youths in a Mangalore pub as an ugly and heinous incident, Janata Dal-Secular chief, H D Deve Gowda on Monday accused Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa of being responsible for "talibanisation" of Karnataka.
Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka over the border row, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday said Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa is heaping 'grave atrocities' on Marathi people in the neighbouring state."Marathis are being assaulted with sticks and guns and beaten up like cattle. If the Karnataka government wants to display its masochism by attacking Marathi people, it should remember that Maharashtra is land of Shivaji Maharaj," fumed Thackeray.
While B Sriramulu, once considered a trusted lieutenant of the mining barons from Bellary, the Reddy brothers, announced re-joining the BJP recently, senior party leader Sushma Swaraj seems vehemently opposed to it, putting the party in a spot of bother. Vicky Nanjappa reports
"Only the Congress and the JD-S are celebrating, people of Karnataka are not," he told reporters.
Following are the names of some high-profile people who have been put behind the bars
The Janata Dal-Secular on Tuesday charged Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa with violating the model code of conduct by addressing individual letters to beneficiaries of old age pension scheme and said it would complain to the Election Commission about it.
Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said the state has no plans to follow in Gujarat's footsteps and ban the book. He was speaking at a press conference on the just concluded by-elections in Karnataka.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and Housing Minister V Somanna on Wednesday appeared before a Lokayukta court in a case relating to alleged irregularities in denotification of land.