The Bharatiya Janata Party's central leadership is having a tough time trying to maintain peace between the two factions in its Karnataka unit which are headed by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and current CM Sadananda Gowda. Both Yeddyurappa and Gowda have released lists of their supporters. The faction led by Yeddyurappa faction has already arrived at the BJP legislature party meet to elect Jagadish Shettar as the new CM.
The Vokkaliga community, which was upset after D Sadananda Gowda was replaced by Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar as chief minister, has now asked all ministers and MLAs belonging to the community in the BJP to resign immediately.
On one hand Karnataka Agriculture Minister Umesh Katti, Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Rural Development Minister Jagadish Shettar are plotting the fall of Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda, while on the other hand the state continues to reel under drought with 123 taluks declared as drought hit.
Bharatiya Janata Party top brass is confident of tiding over the present crisis in Karnataka till the presidential poll gets over but appears to be getting increasingly reconciled to replacing Sadanand Gowda with Jagdish Shettar as chief minister soon thereafter.
Stepping up pressure over their demand for change in the leadership in Karnataka, seven Ministers on Friday met former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and discussed the political situation amid reports that they planned to quit the Bharatiya Janata Party ministry.
In Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal-Secular have tied at the second spot with 40 seats each. Who will now be the main Opposition in the state and who will be its leader?
The Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party, which was stung by cross voting during the Presidential election on Sunday, has decided to set up a committee to look into the matter. Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar told mediapersons in Bengaluru that the committee would go into the matter and appropriate action would be taken against MLAs who cross voted.
A great deal of infighting is taking place in Karnataka over the allocation of portfolios in the new cabinet headed by Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar. The Reddy brothers camp (and members of Legislative Assembly from the coastal belt of the state are unhappy over the lack of representation in the cabinet, and have held a series of meetings.
The BJP's decision to bow down to the caste equation may backfire, points out Vicky Nanjappa
For the first time after the B S Yeddyurappa faction demanded his scalp, Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda hinted on Wednesday that his exit might be imminent, even as he sought to highlight the achievements of his 11-month rule.
In a show of strength, Bharatiya Janata Party strongman of Karnataka B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday mobilised a sizeable number of legislators at a meeting convened by him apparently to exert pressure on the party central leadership to reinstate him as chief minister.
He was the man with the 1000 volt smile and when B S Yeddyurappa made him the chief minister of Karnataka last year that smile only widened. However, this was short lived and the man who mentored him turned out to be the same person who pulled him out of power.
Yeddyurappa is being questioned by the CBI in connection with the illegal mining and land de-notification case.
D V Sadananda Gowda is all set to assume charge as new Karnataka chief minister on Thursday even as there was disquiet in the rival camp which lost out in the bitterly fought secret ballot.
On Wednesday, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh were in Bengaluru to oversee a special secret ballot election process within BJP MLAs from Karnataka to choose the next chief minister. The two candidates were D V Sadananda Gowda and Jagdish Shettar.
As meetings in Bengaluru to choose the next chief minister drags on, one thing is certain that Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Ananth Kumar is out of the race for now.
The dissidence-hit Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka unit presented a picture of unity on Monday, with rebel leaders joining Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa at a meeting to ask partymen to work for the victory of party candidates in the April 9 bypolls to three assembly constituencies.
Karnataka Home Minister K J George came under attack from opposition for his controversial remarks that the media highlighted sexual assaults for TRP ratings, even as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sidestepped the issue.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka is keeping matters close to its heart amid factions within the party warring over the post of the next chief minister.
Vicky Nanjappa reports on the changing mindset of the dominant Lingayat community in Karnataka with regard to who their new chief minister should be.
While Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has made it clear that he would not step down from his post, a discussion is already on about who is going to replace him in such a situation. The discussion has emerged in the wake of the illegal mining report which names Yeddyurappa.
The BJP released the list a day after its central election committee met to finalise the names of its candidates for the high-stakes election.
Yediyurappa is made of sterner stuff and is not going to yield so easily.
An official direction, authorising government and aided schools to purchase a book on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political life and achievements for their libraries by the education department has stirred a controversy.
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.
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.
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.
A total of 22,27,506 farmers have obtained loan of about Rs 10,736 crore from cooperative banks in the state.
Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yedyurappa looks like he has more trouble in hand with the Reddy brothers, who have claimed that they have 67 Members of Legislative Assembly on their side.
While the Congress has convened a meeting of all its MLAs on Wednesday to take stock of the evolving situation, the BJP legislators have been shifted to Haryana in an attempt to keep the flock together and thwart any poaching attempt by the Congress-JDS combine.
Lingayats and Veerashaiva Lingayats are those who believed in the philosphy of Basaveshwara, 12th century social reformer
This is the first Cabinet expansion after he assumed office on July 26 and proved his government's majority on the floor of the assembly on July 29.
"Should this be the fate of the Speaker or the assembly," Kumar asked minister Priyank Kharge.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa officially rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday evening. After a marathon meeting with members of the BJP at the Taj West End hotel Bangalore, the Lingayat strongman officially merged his Karnataka Janatha Party with the BJP.
Among the three Deputy Chief Ministers are Govind Karjol, who has also been given the charge of PWD and Social welfare; Ashwath Narayan the portfolio of Higher Education, IT & BT, Science and Technology; and Laxman Savadi with Transport department.
Karnataka Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Tanvir Sait on Thursday waded into a controversy after video footage emerged showing him purportedly watching pictures of skimpily clad girls on his mobile on dais at a public function to mark "Tipu Jayanti" celebrations.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition ministry headed by H D Kumaraswamy in Karnataka was expanded Friday with the induction of 20 ministers.
The BJP is has set its sight on regaining power by winning 150 out of 224 assembly seats.
Resisting growing clamour, the state government decided to stick to its decision not to refer the case to the CBI.
In a low key homecoming, former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday formally rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday, more than a year after he deserted the party and floated his own outfit.
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