With Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar both staking claim to the top post, they are lobbying hard for it with supporters of each one raising the pitch in support of their leader.
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.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday met Governor H R Bharadwaj at the Raj Bhavan reportedly to put an end to the bitter feud between them. A war of words had ensued between the CM and the governor after the latter asked Yeddyurappa to take a second floor test to prove his majority in the assembly. He had also pulled up the Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government for not taking any action against its allegedly corrupt ministers.
The Janata Dal-Secular leader also said that he may move the confidence of motion on May 24.
If elected to the post, 53-year-old Khader will be the first Muslim leader to serve as Speaker of Karnataka assembly.
Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attended the swearing in ceremony, while former AICC President Sonia Gandhi was absent. Chief Ministers of Congress ruled states Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and Sukhvinder Singh Sukku (Himachal Pradesh) and several top party leaders were also in attendance.
Stung by the internal revolt within the party against his style of functioning, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Sunday vowed to 'work together' in the future for the development of the people and the state. "You will see a different Yeddyurappa from tomorrow," he told reporters at midnight at his residence, on arrival from New Delhi, where the Bharatiya Janata Party evolved an 'amicable settlement' to end the two-week long stalemate following the revolt.
It is now certain that Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa will continue as chief minister of Karnataka. The party high command headed by Rajnath Singh and L K Advani have made it clear that Yeddyurappa will continue as the chief minister of Karnataka.
The rift between Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and his mine-owning ministerial colleagues continued as they stepped up their campaign against a new cess imposed on lorries transporting iron ore.Tourism Minister G Janardhana Reddy, himself a mine owner in the ore-rich Bellary district, took the lead by holding parleys with fellow miners to mobilise support against the Rs 1,000 cess on each lorry load of iron ore.
Internal fight within the Congress for chief ministership gained full speed Thursday as contenders sought to vigorously push their claim in behind-the-scene action, with Siddaramaiah and M Mallikarjuna Kharge still seen as front-runners.
Calling former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda-led party "communal" following its alliance with the BJP, he urged Janata Dal-Secular, to remove the word 'Secular' from its name.
The bomb blast near the state Bharatiya Janata Party city office that left at least 16 people injured indicated the hand of terrorists and state police has set up a special team to investigate the attack, Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said on Wednesday.
In this interview with Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Kharge says that he is not an aspirant to the chair of the chief minister, but also adds that the final decision would be with the party high command.
"There is no threat to the government. On February 8, I am going to present the budget. Nothing to worry about," he told reporters after Governor H R Bhardwaj's address to the joint state legislature session in Bengaluru.
More than ever before, women voters can make or mar a political party's electoral fortunes.
Top Congress leaders held deliberations on Saturday at the first meeting of the new Congress Working Committee (CWC) focusing on preparing a comprehensive road map for ensuring the party's victory in the upcoming assembly polls in five states and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Monday met Union Minister S M Krishna in New Delhi amid demands by Karnataka leaders for a review of Cauvery River Authority's decision asking the state to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.
The first Cabinet meeting was held immediately after Siddaramaiah was sworn in as Chief Minister, and D K Shivakumar as Deputy Chief Minister along with eight MLAs as Ministers.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday urged Christian missionaries not to go for forcible conversion saying there is no room for such actions in a democracy. "There is no room for forcible conversion in democracy. No one should indulge in it," he said.
KPCC president and MP, Sudhakaran said that unofficially discussions have begun on who should be the candidate and officially it would start a couple of days later.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday visited the family of Siddalingappa Choori, who was killed in police firing at Haveri on Tuesday.Yeddyurappa handed over a cheque of Rs two lakh to the farmer's family. The Chief Minister said that he was shocked and deeply hurt by the incident.Accompanied by Public Works Minister C M Udasi and Medium and Major Irrigation Minister Basavaraja Bommai, the CM assured the family all help and offered a job to a family member.
Former Kerala high court chief justice S R Bannurmath has decided to quit the post of Lokayukta in Karnataka. Karnataka Chief Minister Sadanand Gowda said that the judge had sent a letter to him, requesting the state government not to pursue the matter with Governor H R Bharadwaj. Justice Bannurmath backed out after Bharadwaj rejected the government's recommendation to appoint him as Lokayukta, citing a land row among other reasons.
Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt in a written response to a query in Rajya Sabha on Monday said that "as on date, the DRDO is working on 55 mission mode projects out of which 23 projects are delayed".
The 10-month-long timeline in the hijab ban case.
Amid the raging border dispute, Karnataka and Maharashtra chief ministers spoke to each other over the phone on Tuesday night and have agreed that there should be peace and law and order should be maintained on both sides.
Leaders of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra slammed Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's statement that a meeting between a delegation of Maharashtra MPs and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue would not make any difference to the border dispute.
Both of them said, the legislature party meeting has been called, most probably on Thursday, as part of a routine exercise to discuss various programmes and policies of the government, and to ensure coordination between government and party MLAs.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Executive of JD(S) held at the residence of former prime minister and party chief H D Deve Gowda in New Delhi on Monday.
Lok Sabha member D V Sadananda Gowda was on Thursday sworn-in as chief minister of Karnataka, succeeding B S Yeddyurappa, who quit in the wake of the Lokayukta report on illegal mining that indicted him.
A day after his teenaged son Nikhil landed himself in a controversy over a brawl in a hotel in Bangalore, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday sought to play down the incident, saying, "Sometimes these things happen."
Attacking Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa in the wake of the Lokayukta indicting him on the illegal mining issue, Left parties on Thursday demanded his resignation, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party leader has no moral authority to continue in his office.
The hotel has also complained against the CM's son.
This is a brief background of the new Cabinet Ministers.
Rajkumar's fans were not responsible for the violence, Kumaraswamy asserted at a press conference in Bangalore
This motion is in keeping with a directive by Governor T N Chaturvedi to him on January 28, to prove his majority within eight days of assuming office.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader B S Yediyurappa took the oath as Deputy Chief Minister.
The announcement came following Singh's meeting with with Governor T N Chaturvedi on Saturday.
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.
Bengaluru-headquartered HAL plans to produce more than 1,000 helicopters in the range of 3-15 tonne with a total business of more than Rs 4 lakh crore over a period of 20 years at this facility in Gubbi taluk, officials said.
