A day ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from Karnataka, Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday wrote an open letter to Janata Dal-Secular MLAs requesting them to cast their 'conscience vote' in favour of his party's second candidate Mansoor Ali Khan, stating that his win will be a victory of 'secular ideology' followed by both parties.
Janata Dal-Secular chief HD Kumaraswamy alleged "horse-trading" in the Karnataka Rajya Sabha elections claiming that Congress leader Siddaramaiah was pressurising JD-S MLAs to not vote for their own party but that of the candidate of the grand old party.
The BJP received a shot in the arm when for the first time its corporator Sunanda Palanethra became Mayor of the city following the collapse of ruling Congress and the JD-S alliance on Wednesday.
The BJP and Congress have already launched spirited campaigns for the elections.
The Janata Dal-Secular demanded that the Congress government should sack Khan from the Cabinet for his racist slur.
The Supreme Court referred to a larger bench the legal issues stemming from a plea of BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, including the question whether a prior sanction to prosecute is needed under the Prevention of Corruption Act after a magisterial court order of inquiry. The questions revolve around the interplay between the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure on the issue of prior sanction to prosecute a public servant.
In a dramatic development, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Minister C P Yogeeshwara on Wednesday quit his party and joined the Congress, which is now expected to field him in the November 13 assembly bypolls from Channapatna.
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.
Their resignations came shortly after 21 ministers of coalition partner Congress quit the cabinet.
The BJP has vehemently criticized the Karnataka government's decision to provide four per cent reservation for Muslims in government contracts, labeling it an "unconstitutional misadventure." The party has pledged to challenge the move in court and has vowed to oppose it at all levels. Meanwhile, the ruling Congress party has defended the reservation, arguing that it aligns with constitutional provisions. The issue has led to heated exchanges in the Karnataka Assembly, with both parties accusing each other of engaging in appeasement politics.
It is said that Kumaraswamy was in a dilemma, as Nikhil was not keen on contesting but buckled under pressure from party workers.
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.
The MLAs, who support the coalition, are staying at the Golfshire Club in the city. Various photos show the politicians performing asanas in different groups. With wooden flooring and huge glass windows, a scenic view is seen outside the room where the MLAs are gathered.
Beleaguered Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political credibility will be tested by the outcome of the three by-elections. And cries that he must resign will become shriller if the Congress loses them.
The court, however, kept the disqualification in suspension for one month, allowing Swamy to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
The Lok Sabha constituencies that JD-S will contest are Uttara Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Tumkur, Hassan, Mandya, Bengaluru North and Vijayapura.
Kumaraswamy also ruled out any differences among JD-S MLAs over cabinet berths and allocation of portfolios.
Senior politician Basavaraj Horatti, who recently resigned as the chairman of Karnataka legislative council and MLC, on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
JD-S leaders have already dropped enough hints about the party being open to such a possibility.
Siddaramaiah said he was not unhappy about the Congress-JD(S) coalition as was being projected, and there was no doubt about the stability of the government.
The Janata Dal Secular convention to discuss the ongoing power tussle in Karnataka started in Bangalore on Thursday. The main speakers are former PM and JD-S supremo H D Deve Gowda, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Home minister Prakash.
Ali said the JD-S did not have a large organisational structure in Uttar Pradesh, which sends most lawmakers to the Parliament.
Deve Gowda indicated on Sunday that they were ready to compromise.
Suspended Janata Dal-Secular leader and MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing charges of sexually abusing several women, was on Tuesday defeated in the Hassan Lok Sabha segment, by a margin of 42,649 votes.
A proposal by the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to rename a stretch of road in the city after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has sparked strong objections from the opposition JD(S) and citizens. The proposal, which calls for naming a stretch of KRS Road as 'Siddaramaiah Arogya Marga', has been met with criticism, with the JD(S) calling it a "betrayal and insult" to the city's history and the state. The proposal has also drawn ire from RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna, who alleges that the road holds historical significance and that Siddaramaiah is an accused in the MUDA site allotment case. Citizens have also voiced their objections to the proposal, and Krishna has announced her intention to challenge it legally.
A message from KCR on Thursday evening persuaded the Congress to take its MLAs to Hyderabad.
"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.
Two persons -- Chetan and Likith Gowda -- were arrested in Hassan, and they are reportedly associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the district, they said.
Janata Dal-Secular leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday hinted that his party was interested in the agriculture portfolio in the new National Democratic Alliance government.
'There were areas where the JD-S put up weak candidates against the Congress to benefit the BJP.'
A leisure trip to Sri Lanka proved fatal for JD-S workers when the blast took place very close to the dining table as they sat for breakfast at Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, one of the major targets of the deadliest terror strikes in the island nation's history, family members said.
The Congress claimed that the BJP was "trying hard" to get their party's MLAs on their side".
Two-time chief minister and five-time MLA Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy has once again demonstrated his political acumen by bagging a seat in the union council of ministers, despite his party joining the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance just last year.
'By design or default, the BJP's election strategy militated against the very essence of Karnataka politics and the idea of Karnataka.'
A convincing win for either of JD-S's two chief rivals, the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, in the Karnataka assembly polls, could inevitably lead to a life-threatening split in the JD-S, with several of its leaders joining either of the two national parties.
In 2019, actor turned-politician Sumalatha Ambareesh, an independent backed by the BJP, won by defeating then Kumaraswamy's son and joint candidate of the then ruling Congress-JD-S alliance Nikhil by 1,25,876 votes.
The Congress government in Karnataka will provide financial assistance to those allegedly sexually assaulted by Janata Dal-Secular leader Prajwal Revanna, the national party said on Sunday.
Modi enthusiastically waved at a large number of cheering crowd, who had lined up on both sides of the route, as the ruling BJP appeared focused on winning a good number of seats in Old Mysuru region, where it is traditionally weak.
PGR Scindia, a veteran who had spent over 10 years in the JD-S follows senior leader MP Prakash and quits the party.
The court remanded him to judicial custody for seven days till May 14.
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