The war between the two factions in the Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka unit continues, with pressure being mounted on newly-appointed Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda. Gowda, who held his first review meeting on Friday, now faces the challenges posed to him by the faction led by BJP leader Jagadish Shettar. Shettar was also a frontrunner for the coveted CM's post. Shettar and his supporters have demanded the following portfolios -- deputy chief minister, Home and Revenue.
D V Sadananda Gowda is all set to assume charge as new Karnataka chief minister on Thursday even as there was disquiet in the rival camp which lost out in the bitterly fought secret ballot.
As meetings in Bengaluru to choose the next chief minister drags on, one thing is certain that Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Ananth Kumar is out of the race for now.
Sadananda Gowda resigned as the chief minister of Karnataka on Wednesday and Jagadish Shettar met Governor H R Bhardwaj at Raj Bhavan to stake his claim to form the new government. Shettar will be sworn in as the new Karnataka CM on Thursday. However, the crisis is not yet over for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.
He was the man with the 1000 volt smile and when B S Yeddyurappa made him the chief minister of Karnataka last year that smile only widened. However, this was short lived and the man who mentored him turned out to be the same person who pulled him out of power.
The last time he was in contention to become the chief minister of Karnataka, Jagadish Shettar through his office had even sent a couple of his portfolio shots to newspaper offices thinking that it may be used when he takes over the coveted post. Sadly that was not to be for him.
Yeddyurappa is being questioned by the CBI in connection with the illegal mining and land de-notification case.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has paved the way for the appointment of Jagadish Shettar as the next chief minister of Karnataka. BJP leader L K Advani who had reservations about the appointment of Shettar appears to have given in to the demands made by former Karnataka CM B S Yeddyurappa and his camp.
Dissident Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, campaigning for Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's ouster, on Saturday discussed the latest developments in the crisis in the party with Assembly Speaker Jagadish Shettar, who has emerged a rallying point for the rebels, in Bengaluru.
Jagadish Shettar, who is rooting to become the next chief minister of Karnataka, has taken away 48 MLAs, 11 MLCs and 8 MPs in a bid to put pressure on the central leadership.
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?
While one headache for the Bharatiya Janata Party is over on Wednesday with the appointment of a new chief minister in Sadananda Gowda, the other one that remains is to keep the rival faction happy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka is keeping matters close to its heart amid factions within the party warring over the post of the next chief minister.
Vicky Nanjappa reports on the changing mindset of the dominant Lingayat community in Karnataka with regard to who their new chief minister should be.
While Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has made it clear that he would not step down from his post, a discussion is already on about who is going to replace him in such a situation. The discussion has emerged in the wake of the illegal mining report which names Yeddyurappa.
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.
Trouble in Karnataka seems far from over. A day after Jagadish Shettar was beaten by Sadananda Gowda for the chief minister's post in a secret ballot, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader is said to be heading to New Delhi on Friday with a long list of complaints.
Shettar said he has not lost his hopes and would wait till the evening.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader K G Bopaiah was on Wednesday elected as the speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The elections were held after Jagadish Shettar stepped down the post to be sworn in as a cabinet minister in the B S Yeddyurappa government.
Jagadish Shettar, who had become a rallying point for dissidents during the recent rebellion against Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, was sworn-in as a cabinet minister on Tuesday.The BJP high command also set up a 14-member coordination committee today to oversee the affairs of the Yeddyurappa government, thereby meeting another condition of the rebels.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday said problems arising out of dissident activities that recently gripped his government are over and the focus now is on relief works in flood-hit areas.
Accepting BJP central leadership's directive as part of the truce between Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and his detractors, Karnataka Assembly Speaker Jagadish Shettar has decided to join the state ministry soon.
Polling is being held for 224 seats in what is being seen mainly as a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal-Secular.
Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yedyurappa looks like he has more trouble in hand with the Reddy brothers, who have claimed that they have 67 Members of Legislative Assembly on their side.
The Congress fielded former Governor Margaret Alva's son Nivedit Alva from the Kumta assembly seat.
As Karnataka gears up for D-Day, with most exit poll projections predicting a hung assembly while putting the Congress in the lead, the outcome will boil down to how the battle for some key constituencies play out.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition ministry headed by H D Kumaraswamy in Karnataka was expanded Friday with the induction of 20 ministers.
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.
Given that the BJP made all these moves and that these moves were presumably approved by Modi if not directed by him, who should accept the responsibility for the party's rout? asks Aakar Patel.
"The Congress have gone and made promises in Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh that they never fulfilled," Rajeev Chandrasekhar claimed.
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.
While former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi announced his decision to resign from primary membership of the party, minister and six-time MLA S Angara from Sullia constitiuency in Dakshina Kannada district announced his retirement from politics.
The Congress, by and large, focused on local issues in this election and its campaign also was run by state leaders initially.
On the third day of rescue operation, bodies of five people, including that of eight-year-old Divya Unakal, Dakshayini, 45, and Sangamesh, 42, were retrieved from the rubble, police said.
'Bommai was a minister in my cabinet. It is not ethically correct.'
The party bagged 11 of the 25 seats, from 20 Local Authorities' constituencies in the state, for which the biennial election was held on December 10, and counting was taken up today, poll officials said.
An official direction, authorising government and aided schools to purchase a book on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political life and achievements for their libraries by the education department has stirred a controversy.
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.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa officially rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday evening. After a marathon meeting with members of the BJP at the Taj West End hotel Bangalore, the Lingayat strongman officially merged his Karnataka Janatha Party with the BJP.
Sniping at the BJP senior leadership has reached a new high in Karnataka. For the moment, there is a truce, but the party knows the damage it could do ahead of the polls.
