The first Bharatiya Janata Party government in south India is in disarray yet again. This time Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa will have to prove his majority on October 12 with 21 MLAs resigning from the government and bringing the numbers down to 96. The magic figure is 113.
The BJP will do a 'Munnabhai' over former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda using unparliamentary language against Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, bysending him a 'get well soon' message.
Karnataka, which has been witnessing dirty politics for a considerable amount of time now, has stooped to a new low with the former prime minister H D Deve Gowda using un-parliamentary language against chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and also the state advocate general.
As many as 163 persons were feared dead when an Air India Express flight from Dubai with 173 on board crashed and caught fire on Saturday as it overshot the newly-built runway while landing at the Mangalore airport. There were seven survivors who are being treated in various hospitals in the city.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader K G Bopaiah was on Wednesday elected as the speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The elections were held after Jagadish Shettar stepped down the post to be sworn in as a cabinet minister in the B S Yeddyurappa government.
Ajmal Kasab's execution, after he was sent to the gallows on Thursday, may not happen soon, but calls grew loud that he be hanged quickly, amid hopes that the Pakistani terrorist does not end up being on the death row 'waiting list'. Authorities were asked to show urgency in carrying out the death sentence awarded to the 22-year-old Pakistani terrorist. "I don't want any delay in hanging Kasab. I want fast track hanging of Kasab," said K Unnikrishnan.
A CID inquiry was ordered and the police registered a case of rape against H Halappa who quit as Karnataka Minister following a charge of sexual assault made by his friend's wife.
While AP Chief Minister Ken Rosaiah has thanked the central government for the move to set up the IISc's second campus in the backward district of Anantapur in AP, his Karnataka counterpart B S Yeddyurappa has made it clear that the second IISc campus would come up in Chitradurga district of Karnataka.
The Congress on Wednesday asked the Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to prove his secular credentials by banning the right wing Sri Rama Sene.
Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj on Thursday rapped the Bharatiya Janata Party government over inadequate rehabilitation work in the state's flood-hit northern districts, but Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa disagreed with his view and asserted that relief work was going on a 'war-footing'. Bhardwaj said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conducted an aerial survey of the affected districts and announced an aid of Rs 1,000 crore, "but nothing has been done by the state government". "
Jagadish Shettar, who had become a rallying point for dissidents during the recent rebellion against Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, was sworn-in as a cabinet minister on Tuesday.The BJP high command also set up a 14-member coordination committee today to oversee the affairs of the Yeddyurappa government, thereby meeting another condition of the rebels.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday said problems arising out of dissident activities that recently gripped his government are over and the focus now is on relief works in flood-hit areas.
In yet another step to implement the truce deal with the dissidents to end the crisis in his government, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday rescinded the transfer orders of some officials, two weeks after he had shunted them out to strike at the rebels gunning for his removal.
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.
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.
Yeddyurappa will have to take one of the hardest decisions of his political career when he drops Shobha from the ministry in order to save his chair.
BJP chief Rajnath Singh, who met with the warring factions on Thursday, said the party was confident that the crisis will be resolved soon. He, however, ruled out any leadership change in the Karnataka. In short, B S Yeddyurappa's chief minister seat is secure for now.
As the crisis in the Karnataka's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party between the factions led by chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and the other spearheaded by the Bellary mining tycoons cum state ministers G Janardhana Reddy and G Karunakara Reddy, Yedurappa is scheduled to meet leader of opposition LK Advani and other senior party leaders in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who had taken a tough stand on the ongoing crisis within the party, softened his stance on Sunday evening and termed the Reddy brothers -- consisting of state tourism minister G Janardhana Reddy and revenue minister G Karunakara Reddy, who are spearheading a faction within the state BJP to oust Yeddyurappa from the CM's chair -- his friends!
The situation in the Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party deteriorated on Sunday with no positive result emerging out of the meeting the Reddy faction -- spearheaded by state tourism minister G Janardhana Reddy and revenue minister G Karunakara Reddy -- held with the party high command.
The crisis in the Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka unit appears to be worsening. The latest development in ongoing power struggle is that the Reddy brothers led by Janardhan Reddy has left for Hyderabad with 15 MLAs in a bid to shield them from being wooed by the Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's camp.
As the three dissident ministers continued their defiant stance against him, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday talked tough, hinting at 'stern action' against them."These people cannot cow me down. They are worried about my popularity graph," Yeddyurappa told reporters.Yeddyurappa said he has asked the party central leadership to take action against Tourism Minister G Janardhana Reddy, Revenue Minister G Karunakara Reddy and Health Minister B Sreeramulu.
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.
In the tape, released hours ahead of the crucial floor test, the current CM is allegedly heard speaking to Congress MLA from Hirekerur B C Patil over phone.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Saturday virtually ruled out the removal of Reddy brothers from his ministry for the present, saying such a step could be considered if charges are proved.
Fearing poaching from the BJP, the MLAs were moved and expected to be lodged in five-star hotels or resorts.
Karnataka continues to reel under one of it worst floods in recent times. The death toll has crossed 200 and 25 lakh hectares of standing crop has been damaged, as per a report prepared by the state government.
In a major political development in Karnataka, three independent legislators -- G Shekhar, Sangadgi, and Narendra Swami -- on Monday called on Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa at the latter's residence in Bangalore. The BJP needs the support of three more legislators to achieve simple majority in the 224-member Karnataka assembly.
Previously, chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Haryana had written to the Centre seeking 7.5-8 million standard cubic metres per day each of RIL's KG-D6 field gas for power plants in their respective states immediately.
With the cabinet expansion being deferred repeatedly, several aspirants, especially those from Congress, had openly expressed their displeasure over the delay, piling pressure on the party to fill its quota so as to avoid any trouble ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
With his government facing flak over recent attacks against churches, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday blamed certain Christain organisations for flaring up "disharmony and social tension" in the state.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's last-ditch attempt to ensure the smooth unveiling of Thiruvalluvar's statue in Bengaluru went down the drain with three pro-Kannada groups boycotting a meeting convened by him.
There has been a long standing demand to unveil the statue of the renowned Tamil poet Tiruvalluvar in Bengaluru. The Karnataka government agreed to go ahead with the univeling of the statue after their counterparts in Chennai agreed to unveil the statue of renowned Kannada poet Sarvangnya. Tamil Nadu has scheduled the unveiling of the statue in Chennai on August 13.
'The BJP is using all the central agencies at its disposal (to undermine us).' 'We are also taking care that our MLAs are not poached.'
'This minority government will be for only 15 days.' 'By that time, its motion of confidence will be defeated, and it will have to resign.' 'Therefore, the swearing-in is a waste of money, energy and time.'
The Centre on Friday asked the Karnataka government to file cases under stronger laws against Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik and the organisation's activists, who were arrested by the police ahead of Valentine's Day. "The accused should be booked under stronger laws. Their bail should be cancelled also," Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury said in a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.
Nandan M Nilekani, who was appointed as head of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI), on Monday said the government would take steps to end ID card duplication leading to fraud and create a network of verification and authentication.
The BJP legislature party in Karnataka will meet in Bangalore on Wednesday for the first time after the party's central leadership brokered peace between Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and dissidents recently.
'The Karnataka crisis clearly showed the BJP in the grip of regional satraps, for whom the national leadership is of little consequence.'
Accepting BJP central leadership's directive as part of the truce between Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and his detractors, Karnataka Assembly Speaker Jagadish Shettar has decided to join the state ministry soon.