Karnataka would vote on May 10, and the results will be declared on May 13.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, former chief minister B S Yediyurappa, IT industry veteran N R Narayana Murthy along with wife Sudha Murty, and Mysuru royal family member 'Rajamate' Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, were among the early voters who cast their ballot in the Karnataka Assembly polls.
'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.'
The Bharat Ratna for him comes nine years after the honour was bestowed on former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The two leaders together spearheaded the journey of the Jana Sangh and then the BJP for over five decades.
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.
If the party's members aren't sure what it stands for, see no path to wealth or power, and endure control by a dynasty, which, almighty as it is within the party, cannot get them the votes, they are likely to explore options, notes Shekhar Gupta.
They are the contenders, the leaders of parties that will finally form a government in Karnataka.
The case was registered against the veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader by Lokayukta police in 2015 based on the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
Top Congress leaders from Karnataka led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday held a protest in Delhi against the Centre over alleged injustice to the southern state in devolution of taxes, sparking a fierce slugfest between the party and the Modi government.
In a setback to the Aam Aadmi Party in Karnataka, its prominent face and former Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao on Wednesday quit the party and joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.
Polling is underway to elect 119 members of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, with voters queuing up to exercise their franchise amid tight security on Thursday.
With Bharatiya Janata Party facing 'dynasty politics' criticism, following the appointment of veteran leader B S Yediyurappa's son B Y Vijayendra as its Karnataka unit president, party's senior leader C T Ravi on Saturday tried to dodge related questions, and in a cryptic remark said he too is being haunted by certain 'questions'.
Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda has appointed Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya and party general secretary Vinod Tawde as central observers for the election of the leader of opposition in the Karnataka assembly.
Here's how some of the heavyweights fared in the Karnataka elections.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on B S Yediyurappa's resignation as Karnataka chief minister.
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.
'He only promotes those leaders who will never show any resistance to him in future.'
Addressing a public meeting in Bidar, Shah said the Congress always insulted its leaders -- be it S Nijalingappa or former Chief Minister Veerendra Patil.
Polling is being held for 224 seats in what is being seen mainly as a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal-Secular.
Chinchansur, a prominent leader of the Koli-Kabbaliga community in the Kalyana Karnataka region, resigned from his post of Member of the Legislative Council on Monday.
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.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday appeared to be warming up to the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying that "a new chapter has to begin to control looters" as he targeted the Congress government alleging corruption.
With Karnataka starting release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu in compliance with the directives of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), protests have erupted in southern parts of the State.
'Free this and free that, and the voters were with them.'
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.
The sources told PTI that Shettar flew from Hubballi to Bengaluru on Sunday in a special helicopter and held discussions with Congress general secretary (Karnataka in-charge) Randeep Singh Surjewala, Congress state chief D K Shivakumar, former minister M B Patil and veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
The list does not include Jagadish Shettar who met BJP president J P Nadda earlier in the day to stake his claim to contest from his Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency.
Eshwarappa would turn 75 in June, the unofficial age bar in the BJP for leaders to contest polls and hold official positions.
"Yediyurappa's yesterday reaction is his personal reaction. Until now, there has been no discussion on seat sharing or anything. We have met cordially two or three times. Later on, let us see what is going to happen," Kumaraswamy told ANI.
"I will work day and night to offer relief to the people in distress due to COVID or the recent floods. I will initiate all steps to improve the economic condition of the state in the coming days," he told reporters.
A day before counting of votes polled in the Karnataka assembly elections, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress on Friday went into a huddle and held strategy sessions on ways to keep their flock together.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday said he has been asked by the Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership not to contest the May 10 assembly elections, to which he has informed the party top brass of his displeasure with the decision.
'Some of his ministers have performed abysmally, and Bommai has faced an unwanted campaign of religious polarisation imposed by national BJP leaders.'
Should the anti-defection law in India exist only to prevent democratically elected governments from being toppled?
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.
Savadi would now be the grand old party's candidate in Athani in Belagavi district, Congress leaders said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said if the Congress comes to power in Karnataka, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high in the state and it will be 'afflicted with riots'.
Headed by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, the JD-S has long been a strong third player in the southern state where the Congress and the BJP have been the two main parties.
The 77-year old leader was admitted to the Manipal Hospital on August 2 after he tested positive for coronavirus.
Karnataka Minister Umesh Katti died due to cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Tuesday night, official sources said.
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