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.
A source in the CEC's office claimed that the money power of the Congress and BJP candidates in states like Punjab, Gujarat and Maharashtra pales in comparison to candidates from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Mounting a fresh attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday alleged that for the sake of vote bank politics, it has nurtured, given shelter and surrendered before terror.
The Karnataka election results may hold an important message for the Congress: Should it cut and run for the national election as quickly as possible?
The Bharatiya Janata Party had won 30 of the total 50 seats in the region in the 2018 assembly polls, followed by Congress 17, Janata Dal-Secular 2, and others (KPJP-Shankar) 1.
The Congress on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Karnataka ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from its lone southern citadel with a comfortable majority in a morale booster win that will be key for reviving its electoral fortunes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Banu Mushtaq's "Heart Lamp" is the first Kannada title to be shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025. The collection of short stories, translated from Kannada to English by Deepa Bhasthi, tells stories of encroaching modernity and the lives of Muslim women in southern India. The judges praised Mushtaq's "witty, vivid, colloquial, moving and excoriating" style of writing.
The Prime Minister's charge comes a day after former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi addressed a campaign rally at Hubballi on Saturday.
Women politicians do not always receive adequate representation in Indian legislature, in spite of a law that dictates 33 per cent of the elected representatives should belong to the fairer sex. The situation is not very different in Karnataka politics.
The new chief minister, if from the Congress, will have little or no time for political administration, to ensure that he does not lose the voter's goodwill even before the Lok Sabha polls. He can count only on one thing. That the BJP may not want to upset him too early lest an early failure should become an added problem for the party in all the polls to follow, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Some politicians were found to sponsor pilgrimage of their voters -- the most preferred destinations being Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, Manjunatha Swami temple in Dharmasthala in Karnataka and Shirdi in Maharashtra.
Political parties earlier used to seek vote on the basis of caste and religion, said Kejriwal.
Actor Vijay, founder of the Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party, has declared that his party will challenge the ruling DMK in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. In a general council meeting, Vijay criticized the DMK's dynasty politics, their handling of law and order, and women's safety. He also targeted the BJP-led central government over issues like the Waqf Bill, delimitation, and the three-language policy. Vijay promised his party's support to working classes, government employees, and vowed to oppose projects harmful to natural resources and agriculture. He assured 100% safety for women and strict law and order if TVK forms the government. The party passed resolutions opposing the Waqf Bill, delimitation, and the three-language policy, and also voiced support for the two-language policy, finding a permanent solution for fishermen's issues, and opposing the Parandur airport project.
There is a lot of politics that is taking place in Karnataka over the worsening drought situation this year. The very fact that Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda has demanded a relief fund of Rs 2,200 crore from the Union government for drought relief work itself is an indication that the situation is grim. In addition to this there is also the added headache of the infamous Cauvery water dispute.
Conveying good wishes to people of the state and all political parties for the New Year, he however wished that the Congress comes to power.
They are the contenders, the leaders of parties that will finally form a government in Karnataka.
Pawar has summoned a meeting of party leaders in Mumbai on Saturday to finalise its plans for the assembly elections in Karnataka scheduled for May 10.
Amid simmering tension at the Karnataka-Maharashtra border, the police on Monday foiled the Madhyavarti Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti's (MMES) mega protest in Belagavi and detained its leaders even as several members from opposition parties from Maharashtra were stopped from crossing the border.
'No village in Maharashtra will go to Karnataka! The state government will fight strongly in the Supreme Court to get Marathi speaking villages in Karnataka including Belgaum-Karwar-Nipani!' said Fadnavis.
While 67 per cent of India's population is 39 years old or younger, states are governed by chief ministers who are 70 or older.
In an election where every seat will matter, micro-strategising is going to be the order of the day. And in such a situation, party infighting - in all parties --could lead to unpredictable results.
'There will be no change of seats for Delhi, Assam and Maharashtra.' 'Andhra, J&K, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Telangana will lose seats while there will be an increase for MP, UP, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.' 'It is a big mistake if you make it a north-south issue.'
Five Congress legislators on Wednesday threatened to resign if senior party leader and minister K H Muniyappa's son-in-law Chikka Peddanna was given a ticket to contest from Kolar in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, bringing into open the divisions in the outfit.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said his government has decided to hand over the Hubballi student murder case to the Crime Investigation Department and that a special court will be set up for its speedy disposal.
According to party sources, the Congress leadership has been making efforts to convince some ministers and lawmakers to contest, as they have faced problems in identifying winnable candidates in several segments.
It appears to be difficult to predict who would be the clear winner in the May 5 Karnataka assembly elections, but according to leading psephologist Sandeep Shastri, the Congress looks to be on top of the table for now.
Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra on Thursday challenged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to disclose the source of his allegation that Rs 50 crore bribe each was offered to 50 Congress MLAs to topple the government. He said the Chief Minister has lost faith in his own MLAs and, hence, was levelling false allegations.
The decades-old boundary dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra over Belagavi has again flared up as both the State governments are readying for a legal battle.
The Karnataka High Court has quashed the Enforcement Directorate's summons to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi B M and Urban Development Minister B S Suresh in connection with the MUDA site allotment case. The court ruled that the ED was conducting a parallel investigation despite the case already being probed by the Lokayukta police and a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The ED had alleged that Siddaramaiah and other accused were involved in attempted money laundering in the MUDA site allotment case and that the fourteen sites (plots) allotted to Parvathi in Mysuru upmarket were illegally allotted.
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.
'Kerala will lose 6 seats, Tamil Nadu 9 seats, Telangana and Karnataka 2 seats each, Andhra Pradesh 5 seats.'
The political crisis in Karnataka BJP seemed headed for a resolution with warring factions led by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and the Reddy brothers saying an announcement is likely by this evening.
Chandrappa's appointment follows the demise of KPCC working president and former MP R Dhruvanarayana.
While the ruling BJP, riding on the Modi juggernaut, wants to break the 38-year jinx and retain its southern citadel, the Congress is seeking to wrest power to give the party much-needed elbow room and momentum to position itself as the main opposition player in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said the police are conducting in-depth investigation into the bomb blast at the Rameshwaram Cafe and are looking into all angles.
Without naming Gandhi and referring to the Congress leader's remarks made in London -- that structures of Indian democracy are under 'brutal attack', Modi termed it an insult to 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara, the people of Karnataka, India's great traditions and its citizens.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday took serious exception to political statements being made on the sub-judice matter related to the withdrawal of four percent Muslim quota in Karnataka, saying "some sanctity needs to be maintained".
The BJP state unit is banking on the party's central leadership to shore up its prospects in the May 10 assembly polls as it fights anti-incumbency.
The chief minister met Shah on Wednesday night and held discussions regarding the supply of rice to the state, for its Anna Bhagya scheme, which provides an additional 5 kg of rice for each member of below poverty line families.
The Ranji match between Delhi and Railways will be live streamed on JioCinema.
