In the first electoral battle since the new government under Chief Minister D K Shivakumar took charge in Karnataka, the ruling Congress on Thursday won five of the seven Legislative Council seats that went to polls, while the opposition Bhjaratiya Janata Party bagged two.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the proposal for the candidature of Yadav and Jabbar, the All India Congress Committee said in a release.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is set to meet with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi to discuss the state cabinet reshuffle following Siddaramaiah's resignation. Key topics include Rajya Sabha and MLC candidates, as well as potential appointments of multiple Deputy CMs to maintain social and regional balance.
Ruling Congress in Karnataka on Monday retained Bagalkot and Davanagere South assembly seats, giving a respite to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the party leadership, amid the ongoing power tussle over the leadership issue.
This marks the entry of the 8th member from the Gowda family into politics.
In a fresh twist to the ongoing power struggle in Karnataka, caste groups backing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar on Thursday threw their weight behind them, with one warning Congress against unseating the incumbent CM while the other community strongly batted for Shivakumar's elevation.
Asserting that there are no differences between him and his deputy D K Shivakumar, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that they both are running the government unitedly, and will continue to do so in the future too.
Senior politician Basavaraj Horatti, who recently resigned as the chairman of Karnataka legislative council and MLC, on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
He said the state unit only sends the recommendation but does not take sides as to who should be given the ticket.
B Y Vijayendra said power and position itself are not the ultimate objectives in politics.
Senior BJP leader B Sriramulu has invited K N Rajanna, recently sacked as minister from the Congress government, to join the party. This comes as a state minister and some ruling party legislators met with Rajanna, signaling potential political shifts in Karnataka.
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.
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 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.
These remarks from a legislator considered close to Shivakumar come amid renewed speculation about a leadership change in Karnataka later this year.
The launch of a new party by former Karnataka minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy has spiced up the poll scene in parts of state.
The election was necessitated as the term of office of seven members expires on June 14.
Apparently aimed at keeping the flock together ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls, all ruling Congress MLAs in Karnataka will stay put together at a hotel in Bengaluru on Monday after the budget session of the state legislature concludes and will later also travel together for voting the next day.
The move was also seen as placating the Lingayat community, which is considered to be the core vote base of the party with some exceptions in the previous Assembly polls, and also to keep party strong man and octogenarian leader B S Yediyurappa in good humour.
However, he claimed that this was a fight to save the party and its ideology and to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister once again.
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.
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.
Five candidates were in the fray for the four seats in the elections, including Janata Dal-Secular contestant D Kupendra Reddy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday appointed election in-charges and co-in-charges for 23 states and Union territories in view of the Lok Sabha polls this year.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and senior leader Jairam Ramesh were among the 10 candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha on Friday from Karnataka, Rajasthan and Haryana, while counting was underway in Maharashtra after an eight-hour delay due to wrangling by rival parties over alleged breach of voting rules.
Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna on Saturday floated the idea of having three more Deputy Chief Ministers in Karnataka, and said he will discuss it with the Congress high command, keeping in mind the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
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.
Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party vice president and former chief minister BS Yediyurappa's son BY Vijayendra on Monday said he will contest the 2023 state assembly polls if the party's central leadership gives its nod.
'They sent a message that I will not be given the ticket and ordered me to issue a statement -- Gujarat style -- that with immediate effect I was retiring from politics.' 'They were treating me like a political novice who would be pushed around on the order of vested interests.' 'This rude behaviour hurt a lot. It was then I spontaneously decided that I will challenge this dictatorial order and expose all those who want to hurt Lingayat pride in Karnataka.'
There is no mention of Kolar, the second seat from where senior party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, wants to contest, in addition to Varuna, where his name is already cleared.
Ignoring the recommendation of the state unit to field Vijayendra for the June 3 biennial elections to seven seats of Karnataka Legislative Council, the party central leadership on Tuesday announced names of four candidates, hours before the deadline for filing of nominations ended.
On whether injustice has been done to Dalits by not giving a DCM post to the community, he said the people, especially the Dalit community, have huge expectations.
After a series of deliberations, the BJP on Tuesday announced its first list of 189 candidates and a second list of 23 on Wednesday night.
Denials poured in on change in the leadership in Karnataka, amid buzz over such a move by the Bharatiya Janata Party high command ahead of the assembly polls next year, as Union Minister Amit Shah was on a day-long visit to take part in various events in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
The octogenarian, who has already announced his retirement from electoral politics, is sought to be put on the pedestal by the governing party's central leaders.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday questioned the ED slapping a money laundering case against him in the MUDA 'scam' and once again ruled out his resignation over the issue.
Parameshwara said the chief minister had written a letter to the prime minister on the issue, and added that cancelling Prajwal's passport after a warrant is issued against him is the Centre's duty.
While Wadiyar, scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family, is making his political debut from the Mysore Lok Sabha segment, Lakshmana is state Congress spokesperson and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's confidant.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is on an official visit to Bengaluru to attend various events, on Friday met Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party strongman and former chief minister B S Yediyurappa, at his residence for breakfast and held discussions.
Offering to trade second preference votes with the Congress, Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said his main agenda is to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the contest for fourth seat, during the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls from Karnataka.
