Joshi said that the D'Cunha Commission released an interim report without issuing a notice to Yediyurappa or Ramulu.
The BJP may be in the Opposition in many states, but nowhere is it as divided as it is in Karnataka, points out Aditi Phadnis.
The BJP in Karnataka has claimed that the Lokayukta probe has cleared the party's previous government from 40 per cent commission charges, calling the allegations by the Congress "false". The BJP leaders claim that the allegations were part of the Congress' "tool kit" and were used during the 2023 Assembly polls to corner the then BJP government. However, the Congress government has stated that they have not yet seen the report and that acquittals happen due to a lack of evidence. The BJP has also alleged that the current Congress government is a "60 per cent commission government" and has cited several scams during their time in power.
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.
Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.
The counting of votes for the bypolls to 46 assembly seats in 13 states and in the Lok Sabha segments of Nanded in Maharashtra and Wayanad in Kerala, a crucial electoral exercise since the parliamentary polls in April-May, will begin at 8 am on Saturday.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
Beleaguered Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political credibility will be tested by the outcome of the three by-elections. And cries that he must resign will become shriller if the Congress loses them.
"We will do a detailed analysis as the results conclude. We will take these results in our stride and try to reorganise the party for next year's Lok Sabha elections," the BJP leader said.
A day after fielding Mohammed Yousuf Savanur as its candidate from Shiggaon in Haveri district, the party nominated Yasir Ahmed Khan Phatan in his place.
There are critics who say the Bommai's government was not able to counter the Congress narrative to paint his administration as corrupt, a factor that helped the Congress surge in the May 10 assembly elections.
Here's how some of the heavyweights fared in the Karnataka elections.
The Opposition Congress on Saturday seemed to be on course to breach rival Bharatiya Janata Party's lone southern citadel Karnataka, inching towards the magic figure of 113 needed to form a government on its own.
The chief minister who turned emotional twice recalled how affectionately he was fed 'Rotti' (Jowar Roti) and 'Navane' (foxtail millet) rice every time he came to his constituency as Basavaraj.
As Karnataka gears up for D-Day, with most exit poll projections predicting a hung assembly while putting the Congress in the lead, the outcome will boil down to how the battle for some key constituencies play out.
Shettar has been given the ticket from Hubli-Dharwad-Central Assembly segment which he currently represents.
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.
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.
"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.
The state is mainly witnessing a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular).
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.
The Congress fielded former Governor Margaret Alva's son Nivedit Alva from the Kumta assembly seat.
For the May 10 assembly elections in Karnataka, the following are the 20 seats to watch out for.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its first list of 189 candidates for the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls, fielding Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from his traditional Shiggaon constituency.
While the ruling BJP, riding on the Modi juggernaut, wants to break the 38-year jinx and retain its southern citadel, the Congress is seeking to wrest power to give the party much-needed elbow room and momentum to position itself as the main opposition player in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Voting came to an end for the Karnataka assembly elections on Wednesday at 6 pm with data showing a voter turnout of 65.69 per cent an hour ago.
The Congress on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Karnataka ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from its lone southern citadel with a comfortable majority in a morale booster win that will be key for reviving its electoral fortunes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
'Bommai is everybody's man and nobody's man'
Bommai on Saturday made it clear that he is not travelling to any foreign country and that there is no question of any new chief minister in Karnataka.
The 61 year-old leader was the Minister for Home Affairs, Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Legislature in Yediyurappa's council of ministers that was dissolved on Monday and was also the Minister in-charge of Haveri and Udupi Districts.
Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday took charge as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka, ending months of speculation about the change of guard in the state.
The 61-year old leader will take oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka from Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot at the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday at 11 am.
In the course of his various tenures, Yediyurappa made many adversaries. Bommai, by contrast, knows the Opposition well and has many friends, cutting across parties -- he is, after all, only a 2008 BJP entrant.
Polling for three parliamentary seats and 29 assembly constituencies were held on October 30, an exercise being seen as a barometer of the political mood in the country ahead of assembly elections in politically critical Uttar Pradesh as well as other states.
All eyes are now on Kumar who has to take a call on the resignations tendered by 13 MLAs of the Congress and the JD-S from the assembly.
During the Karnataka elections held in May this year, the average amount spent on the campaign by each candidate was Rs 7.43 lakh. Interestingly, this is just 46 per cent of the allotted budget of Rs 16 lakh per candidate.
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