Karnataka BJP seeks to trump Cong’s social calculus, guns for Siddaramaiah
One of the reasons attributed to the BJP’s ascension in states like UP and Bihar in recent years has been its success in isolating the Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) combination – which used to deliver victories for the likes of the Mulayam Singh-led SP and the Lalu Yadav-led RJD – by creating its social base comprising forward castes, non-Yadav OBCs and Dalits.
In Karnataka, the ruling BJP has been trying to reenact its UP-Bihar play, looking to break away the Congress’s Kuruba (OBC)-Muslim base from the party’s minorities, OBCs, and Dalits (AHINDA) social coalition.
The thrice unlucky, ‘maybe CM’ Mallikarjun Kharge
Amid the power churning within the Karnataka Congress, state party chief D K Shivakumar recently gave a fresh churn. In contention with former Congress chief minister Siddaramaiah for the top job should the party win, Shivakumar said he would gladly work under Mallikarjun Kharge should he be picked by the high command.
More of a presence now in Delhi power circles, and the Congress national president since last year, Kharge has seen the promise of that post dangled before him earlier too, only to be snatched away.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavraj Bommmai Wednesday exuded confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party would secure an absolute majority and return to power after the assembly elections to be held on May 10, according to news agency ANI.
"I am confident that BJP will come to power with an absolute majority," CM Bommai told reporters. The candidates for 189 constituencies have been announced and they are confident of coming back to power with an absolute majority, said CM Bommai.
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He said that the selection of candidates has been welcomed in almost all the constituencies and the work of talking with the dissatisfied leaders is on. "He had already spoken to the MLC Lakshman Savadi, who was denied a party ticket and asked him not to take any hasty decision," they said.
"I have an emotional bond with Savadi and am in constant touch with him. The party stood by him in a difficult time and will continue to help him. A good decision will be taken to protect his honour. He has a bright future." (ANI)
Amid rumours of dissent in the ranks following the unveiling of the party's first list of candidates for the ensuing Karnataka Assembly polls, former chief minister and senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa said the party was trying to pacify those not happy with the choice of candidates, according to news agency ANI.
His remarks followed a series of resignations and retirements by BJP leaders, who were denied tickets to contest the May 10 elections. Speaking to ANI, Yediyurappa said, "We accept that there are some issues. I am trying to pacify everybody (dissenters). We are trying to put our best foot forward to retain the state. Three are issues as 3-4 people expected to be fielded from their preferred constituencies. We are trying to pacify and convince them to rally around the party and help us come back to power in Karnataka. This is happening only at a few places. We are in talks with them."
On Jagadish Shettar, Yediyurappa said, "There is a 99 per cent chance that Jagadish Shettar (former Karnataka CM) will get a ticket from Hubli," he said.
On senior party leader KS Eshwarappa's announcing that he was retiring from electoral politics, Yediyurappa said it was a "voluntary" decision.
"Eshwarappa voluntarily wrote to the party president saying he would work day and night for the party but wasn't willing to contest. However, there are others who are upset at not finding their names on the list of candidates. We are working to pacify them and unite for the larger cause, which is to help the BJP win Karnataka again. Let's see what happens," Yediyurappa said.
Senior BJP leader KS Eshwarappa on Tuesday announced his decision to quit electoral politics, hours before the party unveiled its first list.
On former deputy CM Laxman Savadi quitting the party hours after being denied the ticket, Yediyurappa said, "I don't know why he is unhappy. We gave him everything. We made him MLA, MLC and also wanted to make him a minister. We have been trying to get in touch with him since yesterday, but haven't been able to." Senior leader Savadi on Tuesday resigned from the BJP after he reportedly went into a sulk at not featuring in the list of candidates. (ANI)
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BJP MLC R Shankar Wednesday resigned from the legislative council, a day after the ruling party ignored his request for a ticket to contest in the May 10 Assembly elections, PTI reported.
Shankar went to Karnataka Legislative Council chairman Basavaraj Horatti's office and tendered his hand-written resignation, according to the report. Shankar was among the 17 opposition MLAs who helped the BJP bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government and helped the party form a government under the leadership of B S Yediyurappa in 2019. He was later disqualified from the Karnataka Assembly in 2019, and elected to the Council.
Shankar was aspiring to contest in the upcoming Assembly election from Ranebennur but the party gave the ticket to Arun Kumar Pujar. Speaking to reporters, he said he was among those who "gave life to the BJP government in Karnataka but those very people are being sacrificed". “Somewhere I am hurt that I reached this stage because I favoured the BJP. I could have served the people of my taluk but that opportunity did not happen,” he said.
He added that the people of his constituency were ready to support him if he contested the Assembly election again.
Repenting that he committed a mistake by not sticking to the decision of his electorate, he said he wanted to "rectify it and clear the debts of the people of Ranebennur". “I could have been the MLC for another three years. I was not able to help my workers, get people a borewell, a house or transfer the officials. There was a compulsion to do politics while remaining in a precarious situation. Today I got the freedom. I am a free bird now,” Shankar said. (PTI)
BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar Wednesday met national party president J P Nadda in New Delhi.
While speaking to the reporters following the meeting, Shettar said, "Today I met party president JP Nadda and expressed my view that I will contest the election. I have won the last six elections. He said he will discuss it with other leaders and we will reach a conclusion."
During his meeting with Nadda, Shettar was accompanied by Union Minister Pralhad Joshi.
BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar Wednesday arrived at the residence of Union Minister Pralhad Joshi in Delhi, ANI reported.
Shettar did not feature in the BJP’s first list of 189 candidates that was released earlier on Tuesday. The six-time MLA, however, had asked the party to reconsider and said that he will contest “at any cost”.
The party had released 52 fresh faces in its first list of candidates and had struck off the names of some of the prominent leaders, including Shettar, resulting in disappointments in certain pockets within the party. Sitting MLAs Anil Benake and Mahadevappa Yadawad were also denied ticket from Belagavi North and Ramdurg seats triggering protests from their supporters.
BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa Wednesday said that the Jagadish Shettar will be given an election ticket, according to news agency ANI.
Shettar, a day earlier, had said that he was asked by the High command not to contest the next elections. He also said that he had sought another chance to contest as he was elected from the Hubli-Dharwad constituency six times. According to the list, Dr Kranti Kiranto was set to replace Jagadish Shettar.
Udupi MLA Raghupati Bhat, who has been denied a ticket by the BJP to contest in the Assembly elections, Wednesday said he was deeply pained by the treatment meted out to him by the party, PTI reported.
“I am not sad over the party's decision, but I am pained by the way the party has treated me,” Bhat told reporters at his residence in Udupi. He broke into tears while speaking to the media. He also said not even the district unit president of the party had called to inform him about the party's decision and he came to know of it from television channels.
“Amit Shah had called and informed Jagadish Shettar about the changes. I do not expect Shah to call me, but at least the district president should have done it. If I have been denied ticket just due to my caste, I will not agree to it,” he said. Bhat said it appeared that the BJP did not need people like him who 'worked tirelessly', as the party had grown everywhere. He said he had worked for the party even in the hardest of times and was thankful for the opportunities that he had been given.
Read more here.
Minister and six-time MLA S Angara from Sullia constitiuency in Dakshina Kannada district Wednesday announced his retirement from politics, a day after he was denied a ticket by the party for the May 10 Karnataka assembly elections, PTI reported.
A visibly aggrieved Angara said that this was not the way an MLA who toiled for the party with dedication is treated."I am not disgruntled for being denied a ticket by the party. But this is not a way to honour for working for the party and society without any black spot," the Minister for Ports and Inland Transport told reporters.Angara said it appears that "there is no value for honesty".
"My honesty became my drawback. I never believed in lobbying, which became a reason for my lagging behind," the minister said. (PTI)
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a high-level meeting with the party's top brass in New Delhi, according to a report by news agency ANI.
The meeting took place at Shah's residence where BJP chief JP Nadda, party general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh, national general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan were present.
The meeting took place against the backdrop of displeasure by several Karnataka leaders after the first list of BJP candidates came out, sources said. (ANI)
Rajanandini, the daughter of veteran Congress leader and former Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The induction of Rajanandini to the party took place in the presence of former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.
The polling will take place for 224 seats in the state assembly on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.
A day after former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Laxman Savadi was denied ticket to fight the state Assembly elections, the BJP MLC announced his decision to quit the party.
Savadi is a three-time MLA from Athani. However, he lost in the 2018 polls to then-Congress candidate Mahesh Kumathalli. Along with many others from Congress, Kumarthali later jumped ship to the BJP helping the party to topple the Congress-JD(S) coalition and form its government under the B S Yediyurappa in 2019. Read more
Denied ticket from Athani seat, BJP MLC and former deputy CM Lakshman Savadi has announced his decision to quit the BJP. The BJP has favoured the sitting MLA Mahesh Kumatahalli, who is close associate of Savadi's arch rival and BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi. Local Congress leaders are reportedly in touch with Savadi. "I have decided to resign from primary membership of BJP," Savadi said.
The BJP leader who was one of the most vocal voices against students seeking to wear hijab to college premises in Karnataka, Yashpal Suvarna, has got the party ticket from the sensitive Udupi Assembly constituency.
In its first list released Tuesday night, the party shunted sitting BJP MLA Raghpathi Bhat to give the ticket to Suvarna, who will be contesting for the first time. Read more
Former CM and six-time MLA Jagadish Shettar said he will meet BJP national president JP Nadda in Delhi today to discuss about his candidature in the upcoming Karnataka polls. Shettar's name was missing from BJP's first list of candidates released on Tuesday.
With 52 fresh faces on the BJP’s first list of candidates for the upcoming polls, the saffron party has struck off some of the prominent faces resulting in disappointments in some pockets within the party. While former CM and six-time MLA Jagadish Shettar’s name was missing from the list, sitting MLAs Anil Benake and Mahadevappa Yadawad was denied ticket from Belagavi North and Ramdurg seats triggering protests from their supporters.
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday announced its first list of 189 candidates for the Karnataka assembly elections that is scheduled to be held on May 10. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, along with BJP General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Arun Singh, announced that the party is fielding 52 new faces and eight women candidates in its first list.
While BJP has fielded Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from his traditional Shiggaon seat, former CM B S Yediyurappa’s son B Y Vijayendra will be contesting from his father’s Shikaripura constituency. BJP national general secretary C T Ravi will contest from Chikkmagaluru seat and state minister R Ashoka will contest against state Congress chief D K Shivakumar in Kanakapura. Read the list here
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the complete BJP list will be released in a day or two. The first list comprising 189 candidates was released today.
Ramesh Jarakiholi will be contesting from Gokak in the upcoming elections.
LC Nagaraj, an accused in the Karnataka IMA case, will be contesting from Madhugiri assembly constituency.
Housing Minister V Somanna will be contesting against Oppostion leader Siddaramaiah at Varuna. Somanna will also contest from Chamarajanagar.
BJP national general secretary C T Ravi will be contesting from Chikmagalur constituency. Ravi had won the constituency four-times.
In the upcoming Assembly polls, former CM B S Yediyurappa's son B Y Vijayendra will be contesting from his father's Shikaripura constituency.
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai will be contesting from Shiggaon for the upcoming Assembly polls.
Arun Singh, BJP General secretary in charge of Karnataka, while announcing the candidate list for the BJP said that eight women candidates are contesting in the upcoming polls.
According to Arun Singh, BJP General secretary in charge of Karnataka, the first list of BJP candidates has 189 candidates out of which 52 are fresh faces, 32 are OBC candidates, 30 from the SC community and 16 from ST.
Addressing the media, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, "Since BJP is a democratic party, we consulted party workers and leaders to decide on candidates for various constituencies for Karnataka polls. More than 25000 party workers participated in the process. Later meetings held with state and district level leaders in early April for candidates."
Union Minister and in-charge for Karnataka elections Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Arun Singh will be briefing the media in Delhi soon.
JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said that discussions were on to enter into an alliance with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and other parties for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections.
He told reporters at Hubballi that AIMIM had “asked for three to four seats”. Know more here
More than 1,000 FIRs have been filed in poll-bound Karnataka on seizures of cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and freebies since the model code of conduct came into force on March 29, the Election Commission said on Tuesday. (PTI)
After B S Yediyurappa, K S Eshwarappa was considered the leader instrumental in building the BJP in Karnataka. On Tuesday, he began his journey to the margins of the party, like the veteran before him.
Ahead of the release of the BJP’s first names for the Karnataka polls, the 74-year-old Eshwarappa, a former deputy chief minister, announced that he wishes to retire from electoral politics and had asked the party not to field him in the coming Assembly polls. He said he was staying away to help the BJP reach a majority.
This is an unlikely docile retreat for the outspoken Kuruba leader who has never been far from controversy in the state, in his over 40-year political career. And has been fighting to stay on after resignation as minister last year over a corruption charge. Read more here
With the BJP all set to release its list of candidates for the Karnataka Assembly elections, disappointment within the party has started to surface with former chief minister Jagadish Shettar reportedly being denied a ticket. The six-time MLA has, however, asked the party to reconsider and said that he will contest “at any cost”.
On Tuesday evening, Shettar held a press meet where he disclosed that the high command has asked him at the last minute not to contest the upcoming elections. “I am totally disappointed. I have worked for the party for more than 30 years and have built it. They could have intimated me 2-3 months ago and I would have accepted it. But with a few days before filing the nominations, I have been intimated to not contest. I have already started campaigning in the constituency,” he added.
The BJP will soon announce its first list of more than 175 candidates for the May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka after a final discussion with Home Minister Amit Shah once he returns to the national capital, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Tuesday. (PTI)
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday said the BJP central leadership had told him to make way for others, indicating that he would not be given a ticket to contest in the May 10 Assembly elections.
He said he was hurt by the decision, adding that it was not "acceptable" to him.
Shettar said he has urged the leadership to reconsider it and he was told that the matter would be discussed again. (PTI)
Targeting the BJP over reports that B S Yediyurappa was kept out of a meeting by its central leadership to finalise candidates for the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka, the Congress said the ruling party was using the former Chief Minister as a "disposable tissue paper".
Citing a media report which claimed that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda held a closed door meeting in Delhi on Monday with State leaders keeping out Yediyurappa, the party termed it a "grave insult" to the senior Lingayat leader. (PTI)
With the prosecution citing non-cooperation in investigations and an alleged attempt to swallow a piece of paper with names, a special court for cases against legislators rejected the bail plea of Prashant Madal, the son of BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa, in a case where he was trapped while allegedly receiving a Rs 40 lakh bribe.
Prashant, a government official, was caught red-handed on March 2 while allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs 40 lakh from a businessman for awarding a tender for the supply of raw materials to the state-run Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd (KSDL), headed at the time by Virupakshappa. The Lokayukta police subsequently arrested Virupakshappa and Prashant.
One of the reasons attributed to the BJP’s ascension in states like UP and Bihar in recent years has been its success in isolating the Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) combination – which used to deliver victories for the likes of the Mulayam Singh-led SP and the Lalu Yadav-led RJD – by creating its social base comprising forward castes, non-Yadav OBCs and Dalits.
In Karnataka, the ruling BJP has been trying to reenact its UP-Bihar play, looking to break away the Congress’s Kuruba (OBC)-Muslim base from the party’s minorities, OBCs, and Dalits (AHINDA) social coalition. Read more here
Ahead of the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, the Congress has released two lists of candidates so far. In its first list, the party named 124 candidates, refielding 60 of 69 sitting MLAs. The second list had names of 42 candidates, including some who had jumped ship from the BJP and JD(S) ahead of the polls.
Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has been named from his family pocket borough of Varuna, a seat won by his son Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah last time. Karnataka PCC president D K Shivakumar will contest his traditional seat of Kanakapura, while Priyank Kharge, the son of Congress president Mallikarujun Kharge, has been fielded again from the seat he won last time, Chitapur (SC) in the Kalaburagi region. Here is the full list
In a new development, senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa wrote to party president J P Nadda, opting out of contesting the upcoming assembly polls in Karnataka.
CPI(M) leader and former Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac questioned Congress' initiative for a 'united Opposition' in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"How genuine is Congress call for united front against BJP in 2024 election? See what’s happening in Karnataka Assembly election. Congress has unilaterally announced candidates and intention of going it alone, when it is clear that a united opposition can surely defeat BJP," he tweeted.
Even as the release of the BJP’s first list of candidates for the Karnataka Assembly elections has got further delayed, with the party citing the need for further consultation, rumours swirled Monday as former chief minister and member of the BJP parliamentary board B S Yediyurappa returned to Bengaluru.
There was talk that the premature departure of Yediyurappa from Delhi indicated the BJP heavyweight’s unhappiness over not having his way with candidate choices. CM Basavaraj Bommai and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, however, insisted that Yediyurappa had to leave due to personal exigency.
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A letter demanding the immediate arrest of Horticulture Minister Munirathna Naidu in a hate speech case marked the beginning of a new chapter in the row between the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association and the minister on Monday.
In December, the Association’s president D Kempanna and four other office-bearers were arrested in connection with a defamation case that Munirathna had filed. The case was registered after Kempanna alleged, without naming Munirathna, that the minister in charge of Kolar district was threatening officials to collect and give him money.
Munirathna gave a seven-day ultimatum to the contractors to furnish evidence and later filed a civil defamation case seeking Rs 50 crore in damages.
Read more here
The Gujarat-based Amul's foray into poll-bound Karnataka has triggered the Amul Vs Nandini debate. Watch our video to learn more about the controversy.
After leaders from neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Telangana flagged the use of only Hindi and English in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) recruitment exam, Opposition parties in Karnataka have also objected to the policy of only using the two languages for the nationwide test.
Like their counterparts in the Tamil and Telugu-speaking states, the Congress party demanded that the tests be held in regional languages too, reigniting the debate over Hindi imposition.
Urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately allow candidates the option of writing the recruitment exam in Kannada, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah said that though candidates who studied in Kannada medium are smart, “they are unable to clear the exams because of language barrier”. “This is injustice towards our youth,” he added. Read more
The Election Commission has said that cash and materials worth Rs 108.78 crore have been seized in Karnataka in the 11 days since the model code of conduct for the May 10 Assembly polls took effect.
The seized items include Rs 37.24 crore in unaccounted cash, 5.23 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 26.68 crore, 397 kg of illegal drugs worth Rs 11.54 crore, 34.36 kg of gold worth Rs 14.96 crore and freebies worth Rs 15.80 crore.
The commission also said that during the same number of days (27 March 2018 to 9 April 2018) ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, Rs 20.12 crore worth of cash and materials were seized. This shows that the seizure has increased by 440 per cent. Read more
JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Monday asserted that there is no question of his party going near to either the Congress or BJP, and announced that he will be touring various parts of the state for campaigning ahead of the Assembly polls in Karnataka.
The former Prime Minister said he will tour extensively in the party stronghold of Old Mysuru region and a couple of districts in northern parts of the state for campaigning. "I will tour the state after April 10th, preferably all of the Old Mysuru region -- Mandya, Hassan, Kolar, Chikkamagaluru, Chikkaballapur, Ramanagara and Tumkur. I'm going to tour this region. This is our strong belt," Gowda said in a video statement released by his office.
"I also want to go to Raichur and Vijayapura districts (north Karnataka), where I have done a lot of work to save farmers, who were suffering badly because of drought. By getting water from Krishna (river), amidst water sharing dispute with Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, I had worked there," he said. (PTI)
WHILE welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Delhi's Sacred Heart Cathedral on Easter Sunday as a “wonderful gesture”, Church leaders in Karnataka hope it would see a change in the approach of local BJP leaders towards the community.
Comprising less than 3 per cent of Karnataka's population, the Christian community wields considerable influence in the state because of the institutions it runs in the health and education sectors.
Days before Modi's church visit incidentally, a minister in the state BJP government was booked for making an alleged hate speech against the community. The community also has concerns about the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, which was passed towards the end of last year and puts stringent curbs on conversion. Liz Mathew writes
The Election Commission of India (ECI) Monday granted national party status to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and revoked the status of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), and Communist Party of India (CPI).
Last week, the Karnataka High Court had directed the ECI to pass appropriate orders regarding the national party status of AAP by April 13.
The AAP is in power with big majorities — and very large vote shares — in Delhi and Punjab. And in the Goa Assembly elections held in March, it received 6.77% of the vote. The party won five seats in the Gujarat assembly elections held last year. Read more
The Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Karnataka, who make up nearly 7 per cent of the state’s population, are among the biggest beneficiaries of the reservation largesse of the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government.
Last October, the Bommai government announced a move to increase the reservation quota for STs from 3 per cent to 7 per cent in proportion to the population of the community. Of all the changes in quotas affected by the government in the final lap of its current tenure in Karnataka, the 4 per cent hike in the quota for STs is the largest hike that any community in the state has received.
The dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities have been given a hike of only 2 per cent each (after cancelling the Muslim OBC quota of 4 per cent) from 5 to 7 per cent and 4 to 6 per cent respectively despite seeking between 11 and 15 per cent. The Scheduled Caste (SC) quota has also been hiked by only 2 per cent from 15 to 17 per cent. Johnson T A reports
Ahead of the declaration of the schedule of the Karnataka Assembly polls by the Election Commission on March 29, the Congress leaders from the state’s dominant Lingayat community went into a huddle and came out to demand at least 55 poll tickets for the members of the community out of the total 224 seats.
The Congress has released its two lists of candidates so far for the May 10 polls — the first list of 124 candidates on March 25 and the second list of 42 candidates on April 6. Of these 166 tickets, 43 have been given to the members of the Lingayat community, with the Congress thus already equalling its total 43 tickets allotted to Lingayats in the 2018 Assembly polls.
With the ruling BJP no longer projecting its principal Lingayat leader B S Yediyurappa as the chief ministerial candidate, the Congress’s Lingayat group is of the view that it has a good chance of securing the backing of the state’s largest community in the polls, even though the party is not projecting a Lingayat as a CM face. Johnson T A reports
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah today opposed the alleged decision of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to conduct its recruitment examination only in Hindi and English and not any other regional language, including Kannada.
Terming it an injustice to candidates from the non-Hindi speaking states like Karnataka, the former chief minister said the "double engine" government of the BJP has "failed" the state's aspirants.
"I urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately allow the candidates to write the CRPF recruitment exam in Kannada too. It is important to relax the rule of writing the exam only in English and Hindi to help candidates from non-Hindi states," Siddaramaiah said in a series of tweets.
A veteran Karnataka BJP leader, Union minister Shobha Karandlaje is heading the poll management committee of the party in the state. She tells The Indian Express that the coming polls are all about development, and that party leaders have been asked to focus on that.
Excerpts:
*The BJP is seen as facing severe anti-incumbency. As head of the party’s poll management committee, how are you countering it?
KARANDLAJE: In South India, people are confident that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will do something good for them. We are trying to run a positive campaign. The perception is about development. The Congress has ruled the country and even Karnataka for decades, but it had no direction towards development. For the first time, even non-BJP-ruled states are getting a direction towards development. PM Modi is focused and, for people in India, Modi means development. They are seeing what is happening on the ground. People are happy with the Jal Jeevan Mission, they are getting drinking water, and people see him as an icon of Swachh Bharat. Read the full interview here
The Congress is trying to pacify a few seats aspirants who have turned into rebels after failing to make it to the list of 166 party candidates announced for the Karnataka Assembly elections so far.
When the Congress released a second list on April 7 with 42 candidates, one of the surprise omissions was Y S V Datta, the Kadur seat aspirant who had switched from the Janata Dal (Secular) after getting an assurance on a ticket. A lecturer-turned-politician who was once a close aide to former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, Datta lost out to B S Anand when the list came out.
After holding a meeting with his supporters, Datta announced on Sunday that he would stand as an independent candidate. Though Congress insiders do not consider it as a setback, the development points to the differences within the party given that Datta was brought over by former chief minister Siddaramaiah. Kiran Parashar reports
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai Monday said the Opposition parties in teh state, particularly Congress and JD(S), were doing baseless politics by spreading fake news about Nandini brand being in danger.
"Our Nandini milk is in national and international demand and is available in all states and is being exported to foreign countries as well. In 2018, 84 lakh liters of milk was produced daily, currently 94 lakh liters of milk is being produced," Bommai added.
Amid calls to boycott dairy giant Amul’s products in Karnataka, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Managing Director Jayen Mehta said the company’s entry into the state’s dairy market is not to compete but to coexist with the local Nandini brand.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Hotel Association has called upon all hotel owners to boycott Amul products and use the ‘state’s pride’ Nandini to support dairy farmers of Karnataka. Along with the boycott call, a political row has also intensified over the issue and Opposition leaders have accused the Karnataka government of destroying the ‘state’s pride’, the Nandini brand. Read more
Activists of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike hit the streets Monday over the recent announcement by Amul to supply milk and curd in Bengaluru. They staged their protest at the Mysore Bank Circle in the city, calling for a boycott of Amul products to protect the Nandini brand of Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF).
The protest came as the issue continued to gain traction on social media platforms, and amid a political slugfest over the issue which has grabbed national headlines. Read more
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai today said the first list of the BJP candidates for the May 10 Assembly elections will be released by Wednesday. He said there is no confusion regarding finalising the list. Senior BJP leaders held a day-long deliberation today in New Delhi to finalise candidates for the state assembly polls, discussing the suggestions made at the recent BJP Central Election Committee meeting.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president J P Nadda, Bommai, his predecessor B S Yediyurappa and other leaders from the state attended these meetings.
On Sunday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge sat with AICC organisation general secretary K C Venugopal, party’s Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala, screening committee chairman Mohan Prakash and some other senior leaders to decide the party’s candidates for some 25 seats on which there are differences between Karnataka party chief D K Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah. On the discussion table was also the desire expressed by Siddaramaiah to contest from Kolar.
Sources said most of the senior leaders were not in favour of him contesting from both Kolar and Varuna. The party has already announced his candidature from Varuna. Read more
Congress Karnataka chief D K Shivakumar today visited a Nandini Milk store in Hassan, amid the ongoing Nandini vs Amul row.
Shivakumar expressed support for Karnataka's homegrown milk brand Nandini, which he claimed is better that that of the Gujarat-based dairy cooperative Amul.
"Visited Hassan's Nandini store today and bought milk products. The BJP government is trying to hijack the Nandini brand which is a symbol of self-esteem of our farmers and Kannadigas. But let the BJP government remember this, Kannadigas will never sell their self-respect." he tweeted in Kannada.
With only one month until the Karnataka Assembly elections, the Congress party Sunday appointed former Lok Sabha member BN Chandrappa as the working president of its state unit.
According to a party statement, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge appointed Chandrappa as working president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), headed by D K Shivakumar. The appointment of the former MP comes after Karnataka Congress working president R Dhruvanarayana passed away last month. Read more