The Bharatiya Janata Party was on Wednesday decimated in the Karnataka assembly elections with Congress set to form a government, may be on its own, wresting power after a gap of seven years.
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 BJP and Congress have already launched spirited campaigns for the elections.
Behind its high-decibel campaign, powered by well-organised party machinery, the BJP also appears to have made a slight departure from its 'next generation' approach to stay ahead of an aggressive Congress and enhance its prospects of securing a majority of seats.
Amid fear over the border row with Maharashtra and disruption due to protests by various communities, the entire city resembles a cantonment of sorts.
The Karnataka CM is facing allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife Parvathi B M by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
Congress' good show was a "Janata Janardhana Victory", he said, crediting the people for the party's apparent return to power as it established a clear lead ahead of its rival BJP.
A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said the earlier regime of four percent quota to Muslims will continue to hold field till May 9, when the matter will be heard next, without any prejudice to the contentions to be raised by the state government.
While former minister and MLA Aravind Limbavali's wife Manjula Arvind Limbavali has got the ticket for the Mahadevapura constituency, the party has fielded Katta Jagadish, son of former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu from Hebbal.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, he said, he is not giving priority to such things and was concentrating on strengthening the party.
The Congress is likely to emerge winner in the Karnataka assembly elections while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party could end up a distant loser, exit polls and predictions by television channels claimed.
With the cane crushing season set to commence on November 15, lakhs of cutters from various districts have already migrated to the sugarcane belts in western Maharashtra and many other states, according to the Maharashtra Sugarcane Cutters and Transport Association.
The governor has also started using a bullet-proof car since Tuesday morning, the sources told PTI.
The Congress has convened a CLP meeting on Friday ahead of budget presentation and warned its MLAs that absence would invite action under the Anti-Defection Law.
The accusation comes a day after the President's secretariat forwarded the assertions of the Opposition BJP that Delhi was facing a constitutional crisis to the ministry of home affairs for "proper attention".
The Congress has tried to inflict capital punishment on true secularism, he claimed, asserting that the Waqf law has no place in the Constitution.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not be restored even if Congress stalwart and late PM Indira Gandhi comes down from heaven.
Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party chief Ashish Shelar attacked the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi ahead of his upcoming visit to Maharashtra and sought an apology for his remarks on 'reservation ' and 'Veer Savarkar'.
'Religion has divided our country like it never had done.' 'I can't remember a time of such focused hatred.'
In its Karnataka assembly poll manifesto, which was released on May 2, the Congress said it is committed to take firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations such as the Bajrang Dal and the PFI "spreading hatred" among communities on the grounds of caste and religion.
President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee DK Shivakumar termed the step "unconstitutional"
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) would soon form government at the Centre, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claimed on Wednesday as he predicted that the ruling National Democratic Alliance will not complete its five-year term.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said that he will ask his Maharashtra counterpart Eknath Shinde not to send his ministers to Belagavi, amid the raging border dispute between both the state, as it may disrupt the law and order situation in the border district.
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.
The broader 50-issue NSE Nifty edged up just 0.10 points to close at 10,806.60
Sources within the Congress, including those who have been members of the teams that drafted its 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha poll manifestos, said the Karnataka government decision lacked any empirical basis.
The contentious anti-conversion bill was cleared by the Karnataka Cabinet on Monday and it is most likely to be tabled in the legislative Assembly on December 21, official sources said.
The minister emphasised the need for people to take precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in some parts of the world, especially in China.
The leader, who has been sulking for some time now due to repeated denial of election tickets, said he would convene a meeting of his supporters next month to announce his decision on whether or not he will stay with the Congress.
Asserting that his government will implement the five poll 'guarantees' promised ahead of the assembly polls, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said officials have shared their inputs on financial implications, and the cabinet will meet on June 2 to decide on the implementation.
The cabinet decided to bring the religious minorities under the EWS category.
Headed by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, the JD-S has long been a strong third player in the southern state where the Congress and the BJP have been the two main parties.
The 'Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill' was passed by the Legislative Assembly in December last.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which pulled off a hat-trick of wins in Haryana by bucking anti-incumbency, managed to make significant inroads into the Dalit seats and Jat strongholds.
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 state government does not believe in disallowing non-Hindus to do business outside Hindu temples.'
Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Monday said the party's national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has agreed to campaign and spend time in the state, for the assembly elections next year.
The Cabinet held a detailed discussion regarding the five guarantees and its implementation, and has arrived at decisions, Siddaramaiah who headed the meeting told reporters.
The EC had on Saturday issued a notice to the Karnataka Congress over its "corruption rate card" advertisements published in newspapers in the run-up to the May 10 state polls and sought "empirical evidence" to prove its allegations by Sunday evening.
A group comprising top tech startups and unicorns has raised several "serious concerns" over a platform-based gig workers Bill proposed by the Karnataka government, saying it would hurt the ease of doing business. They told the state government the Bill in its current form would hamper operations and increase regulatory and compliance burden on the nascent gig and startup economy, according to sources.
