The Karnataka high court on Wednesday adjourned hearing on a petition filed by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna. Justice B V Pinto is likely to take up the matter for hearing on Thursday.
The BJP has less than five months to straighten things out to taken on the Lingayat strongman in the May 2013 elections, says Aditi Phadnis
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Friday moved the Karnataka High Court against the order of the Lokayukta court, which directed the police to investigate the illegal mining case against him.
A renewed energy seems to have been infused into the 75-year old Congress leader Siddaramaiah's gait as he walked to address a packed press conference in Mysore on Saturday.
Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy's remarks that Mahatma Gandhi would have turned corrupt in the present day politics on Monday drew sharp reaction from leaders including Gandhian Anna Hazare, who wondered how the country could eliminate corruption if leaders talk like this.
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.
In a relief for former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, the high court has quashed proceedings initiated against him in connection with two cases. The cases against Kumaraswamy and his wife Anita, also a Janata Dal -Secular member of Legislative Assembly, relate to renewal of mining lease to the Jantakal Mining Firm in violation of norms and alleged irregularities in allotment of sites to Vishwabharathi Housing Cooperative Society.
Congress has criticised Janata Dal Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy, son of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, after the former revealed that his father was offered a bribe for defence deals. Congress spokesperson Renuka Chaudhary questioned why the statement by Kumaraswamy was being aired in the media after over a decade.
Amid the raging storm over bribery charges in defence procurement, former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday claimed his father H D Deve Gowda was offered bribe by middlemen involved in defence deals when he was the prime minister.
The Karnataka high court on Tuesday refused to grant a stay on the proceedings initiated against former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and his wife by a lower court on a private complaint filed against them. Justice K N Keshavanarayan rejected the applications filed by Kumaraswamy and his wife Anita for staying the proceedings before the Lokayukta special court. The Lokayukta court had on August 8 issued summons to Kumaraswamy and his wife, asking them to appear before it.
The new application before the court states that the facts have been jumbled and that Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa had allegedly de-notified only a small portion of the land at Rachenahalli in favour of his family members. However, strangely the name of the HD Kumaraswamy does not figure in the complaint, considering that a major portion of the land was de-notified by him.
The power struggle within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka intensified with sulking former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday taking a dig at his successor D V Sadananda Gowda, saying luck propelled him to the post.
Another interesting part of the report is the one on illegalities in M/s Janthakal Enterprises. It talks about Daya Nayak and H D Kumraswamy trying to exercise their clout and how iron ore was exported to Pakistan illegally.
Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Monday flayed Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's rejection of his demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into ruling Bharattiya Janata Party's allegation that he and his family had amassed illegal wealth of Rs 1,500 crore.
BJP let Yeddyurappa get away with indiscretions as it did not want to rock the boat in Karnataka, says Aditi Phadnis
The battle between Chief Minister of Karnataka, B S Yeddyurappa and former Chief Minister, H D Kumaraswamy was taken to Dharmasthala on Monday.
Former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy will swear before Lord Manjunatha, the presiding deity at Dharmasthala, that Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa had in fact tried to buy peace with him in relation to charges of corruption.
Just two days before the temple face-off at Dharmasthala with Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Saturday decided to back out from the 'truth test', heeding the advice of his party and religious leaders.
A rotating chief ministership as a way to appease factions can work only if there is a credible guarantor, explains Aditi Phadnis.
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 Karnataka government has told the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowerment Committee that it could go ahead and probe the three former chief ministers of the state in connection with the illegal mining case.
Cong leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, former Prez Pranab Mukherjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as well as CMs of six states to be present at the occasion.
In Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal-Secular have tied at the second spot with 40 seats each. Who will now be the main Opposition in the state and who will be its leader?
The moment a case is filed against a political leader, opposition parties go all out demanding his resignation. On Thursday, a FIR was registered against three former chief ministers of Karnataka in connection to a case of illegal mining. The FIR was registered in the wake of a private complaint filed in the court of the Karnataka Lokayukta, which alleged that S M Krishna, N Dharam Singh and H D Kumaraswamy had helped certain companies carry out illegal mining.
In a major setback to External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, the Lokayukta court has ordered a probe against him in connection with an illegal mining case. The Lokayukta special court also ordered probes against former chief ministers H D Kumaraswamy and N Dharam Singh in connection with the same case. Lokayukta Special Court Judge N K Sudhindra Rao on Saturday directed the police to complete the probe by January 6 and submit its final report.
Stepping up its attack on the alleged land scandals, opposition Janata Dal - Secular on Monday accused Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa of denotifying some land in Bengaluru in violation of court rulings and levelled bribery charges against him. Former chief minister and state JD-S president H D Kumaraswamy alleged that Yeddyurappa had denotified more than five acres acquired by the Bangalore Development Authority for a layout at Nagarbhavi.
Continuing his tirade against Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, Janata Dal-Secular state unit President H D Kumaraswamy on Monday dubbed him the "most corrupt chief minister" of Karnataka.
The Karnataka Lokayukta's report on illegal mining in the state is said to have named Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappaa, former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, the Reddy brothers among others.
Janata Dal - Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday ended his two-day-old 'indefinite' fast to demand a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's allegation that he and his family had amassed illegal wealth worth Rs 1,500 crore. Kumaraswamy was offered a glass of fruit juice by Jnanapeetha Awardee U R Ananthamurthy at Freedom Park after the latter urged him to withdrew the fast, which the JD-S leader accepted.
Former Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday began an indefinite fast in Bengaluru pressing for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's charge that his family members amassed illegal wealth to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore.
Going a step further after agreeing to swear before god, Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Monday said he was ready to undergo a narco analysis test to prove his claim that Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa through an aide tried to strike a 'compromise' with him.
Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday alleged that Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa made fresh attempts to 'buy peace' with him in a bid to bring an end to the slugfest between them.
Janata Dal-Secular leader and former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy expressed confidence on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party rebels will align with him and vote against the state governmment during the crucial floor test on October 11.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its first list of 189 candidates for the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, fielding Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from his traditional Shiggaon constituency.
In a fresh salvo against Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy alleged that he and his family had secured "illegal gains" through donations of Rs 27.18 crore made to a trust run by the CM's son.
"I am firm on starting my agitation demanding CBI probe into the so-called 53-page charge sheet published by BJP against the Deve Gowda family. I set a one-week deadline to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to respond to my demand for ordering a probe. But the chief minister has surrendered to silence," he said.
Accusing the Congress of also abusing the dominant Lingayat community in poll-bound Karnataka, the prime minister further said the grand old party had even abused Babasaheb Ambedkar and were engaged in abusing Veer Savarkar.
He said that non-ideological opportunistic coalitions always get trapped within their own contradictions.
Seeking to give a new twist to his ongoing war against the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka over alleged land scams, Janata Dal - Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday claimed Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa had made a vain bid to patch up with him."Two days ago, a right hand man of Yeddyurappa had a telephonic talk (with me) to say the chief minister wanted to strike a compromise with me to end the expose of the misdeeds of his government,"said Kumaraswamy.
The Congress and JD-S have made much of Amit Shah's remarks about milk co-operatives. 'If the Opposition harps on the statement, it could add to the narrative that Gujarat was trying to take over Karnataka.'