'The campaign by the Mahagathbandan has failed to capture the imagination of the electorate given the fatigue factor with the Nitish government.'
Mudigere's Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, M P Kumaraswamy, on Thursday announced his resignation from the party, after he was denied ticket to contest the Karnataka assembly polls, and blamed national General Secretary C T Ravi for not getting nominated.
The IT-BT minister claimed that the then BJP government did not merely charge a '40 per cent commission', as his party had claimed during the assembly election, but had collected a commission of more than 400 per cent.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat defended the organization's recognition and addressed concerns about respecting the Indian tricolour, responding to criticism from Congress leaders.
The BJP on Saturday accused the Congress of repeatedly supplying "oxygen" to Pakistan, and slammed the opposition party for its leader Charanjit Singh Channi's remarks questioning the veracity of Balakot air strikes after the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the Congress is full of pro-Pakistan leaders who make statements against India's interests, and mocked the party for its letter that had advised its functionaries to toe the official line on the issue. Patra also criticized other Congress leaders for their comments on the Pulwama and Pahalgam terror attacks, accusing them of lowering the morale of the armed forces. He further slammed the Congress for claiming credit for the government's announcement of the caste census and said the party never carried out the exercise during its over 60-year stint in power.
He also promised to give free electricity, quality education in government schools and good healthcare for the state's people.
The three seats fell vacant following the resignations of Baburao Chinchansur, R Shankar and Laxman Savadi to contest the assembly elections.
Several BJP and JD-S leaders joining the Congress ahead of the May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka is an evidence to prove that public sentiment is in favour of the party and it will come to power, its state unit President D K Shivakumar said on Monday.
The Karnataka legislative assembly on Wednesday witnessed chaotic and unruly scenes as angry Bharatiya Jansata Party legislators tore copies of bills and the agenda, and threw them at the deputy speaker, who was presiding, following which Speaker U T Khader suspended 10 of them for the remainder of the session.
As many as 13 Congress and three Janata Dal-Secular MLAs had resigned from the Karnataka Assembly in 2019 thus bringing down the 14-month-old coalition government of the Congress and the JD-S led by H D Kumaraswamy.
In a significant move, the Centre on Wednesday announced that caste enumeration will be part of the next population census, with the inclusion of caste details for the first time since independence hailed by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies as a historic step to help design truly equitable and focused policies.
Unidentified men posing as central government officials intercepted a cash van in Bengaluru and allegedly fled with about Rs 7 crore. Police are investigating the incident and have formed teams to hunt for the suspects.
Sources said a couple of resolutions are expected to be passed at the crucial meeting, with an eye on the upcoming Bihar polls.
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.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar offered to apologize if anyone was hurt over his rendition of the RSS' prayer song in the state assembly. He reaffirmed his loyalty to the Congress party.
Shafiulla, in his resignation letter to the JD-S Karnataka president said that he had opted to stay outside the party for the period during which the state unit of the party had joined with the BJP to form the state government.
With most exit polls predicting a tight contest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls in Karnataka, leaders of the two parties seem 'jittery' over the outcome, while the Janata Dal-Secular appears to be expecting a hung verdict, which would enable it to play a role in government formation.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday named 72 more candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Anurag Singh Thakur, and former chief ministers Manohar Lal Khattar, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Basavaraj Bommai.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pratap Simha on Sunday alleged that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is out to finish his family only to 'politically rehabilitate' his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah.
The Congress on Sunday took a strong exception to the exclusion of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the Karnataka government's newspaper advertisement on freedom fighters and termed the Bharatiya Janata Party action 'pathetic'.
A Congress source termed the process of drafting and presenting of the Bill before the state cabinet on Monday as a "unilateral" effort by the chief minister's office and ministers that are close to him.
Congress president M Mallikarjun Kharge, meanwhile, came to Siddaramaiah's defence, stating that the party is standing with him and will support him.
The day began with the Congress meeting with Governor Rameshwar Thakur and telling him that they did not intend supporting any party in the state and had no intention of forming the government.
'But I know why he did it.' 'He was being heckled by BJP members who were mocking the Congress.' 'In that context, he quoted the song to tell them: "We know your anthem, we know your ideology, we know how divisive you are".' 'It was not an endorsement.'
'I disagree with much of Modi's politics, but it cannot be denied that in these years in office, he has carved more than a niche for himself in history,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Five Parliamentarians from Karnataka including Janata Dal-Secular leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Nirmala Sitharaman and Pralhad Joshi, who were part of the previous Cabinet, on Sunday took oath in the new National Democratic Alliance Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'By design or default, the BJP's election strategy militated against the very essence of Karnataka politics and the idea of Karnataka.'
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.
Yeddyurappa lacks the Karnataka BJP's unqualified support and Shah knows that.
Sharad Pawar claimed that two individuals had met him in New Delhi before the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls and 'guaranteed' the Opposition's victory in 160 of 288 constituencies.
A controversy has erupted over the alleged misrepresentation of the India map on the posters displayed by the Congress to commemorate the centenary of 1924 Congress session in Karnataka's Belagavi, with the Bharatiya Janata Party dubbing it as 'vote bank' politics by the national party.
A group of Congress leaders have written to Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to warn party leaders and state ministers, who are weighing in for the chief minister's post, in the event of leadership change in Karnataka.
Even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was defeated in the Karnataka assembly elections, the party retained its traditional stronghold in the coastal region by securing victories in 11 of the 13 constituencies in the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
Former Karnataka chief minister Jagdish Shettar, who had quit the Bharatiya Janata Party to join the Congress ahead of the state assembly polls last year, rejoined his old party on Thursday.
The Congress in its poll manifesto had promised to undo the changes made to school textbooks when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power, and had also promised to scrap National Education Policy.
International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq has affirmed her respect for the Dasara festival and Goddess Chamundeshwari, following objections from BJP leaders regarding her invitation to inaugurate the event.
The BJP in Karnataka has claimed that the Lokayukta probe has cleared the party's previous government from 40 per cent commission charges, calling the allegations by the Congress "false". The BJP leaders claim that the allegations were part of the Congress' "tool kit" and were used during the 2023 Assembly polls to corner the then BJP government. However, the Congress government has stated that they have not yet seen the report and that acquittals happen due to a lack of evidence. The BJP has also alleged that the current Congress government is a "60 per cent commission government" and has cited several scams during their time in power.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for Bengaluru, Bommai said he held a meeting with Nadda on Wednesday on the matter.
With six children of Karnataka ministers in the Lok Sabha poll arena, the campaign scene is getting spiced up in the high-stakes elections for the ruling Congress in the state.
Reacting to allegations by the opposition that police had not given permission for celebrations, he said, " I don't want to react to any of these BJP guys. I am only answerable to the people of Karnataka and people of the country. All BJP persons are nonsense... They are also the mastermind of these dirty things."
