Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at the Jai Bharath rally in Kolar. (Express photo by Jithendra M)Karnataka Assembly Election 2023, News Live Updates (April 16): Addressing a public meeting in the poll-bound state, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi raised the Adani issue and said that the industrialist is a symbol of corruption. His statement comes days after the Parliament proceedings were washed over by protests by MPs demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee Probe into the allegations against Adani group by US-based Hinderburg Research. Gandhi also said his party will come to power in Karnataka.
Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar resigned as an MLA of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday morning, after submitting his resignation to Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kaggeri. Reacting to this, current CM Basavaraj Bommai told reporters, “It is unfortunate that he (Shettar) is going to resign today. He was the former CM and the party president as well. There will be a small impact on the party & BJP is capable of overcoming it. Party has decided to give way to the younger generation”. Meanwhile, former CM and BJP strongman B S Yediyurappa said that the people of Karnataka won’t forgive Shettar and Laxman Savadi, another senior leader who quit the BJP last week, at a press conference on Sunday.
The BJP has not announced a candidate for Shettar’s Hubbali Dharwad Central seat. Shettar was being convinced by BJP leaders to volunteer to step aside for a new candidate but the talks failed last night. The exit of Shettar, one of the main Lingayat leaders in BJP alongside another former CM B S Yediyurappa, is seen as a fallout of a long standing power struggle in the Hubbali region between Shettar and rivals in the BJP like Pralhad Joshi and more recently CM Bommai. There is speculation that Shettar may join the Congress.
Asserting that "winds of change" are blowing in Karnataka, senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily claimed that his party will win at least 130 seats in the upcoming assembly polls and the gateway to South India for the BJP will be "totally closed". He also asserted that Karnataka has always played a crucial role in the formation of the government at the Centre and a victory in the upcoming assembly polls there will pave the way for the formation of a Congress-led government in 2024.
In an interview with PTI, former Karnataka chief minister Moily predicted that the Congress would not get any less than 130 seats in the 224-member assembly while the BJP would not cross the 60-mark in the May 10 assembly polls. He also accused the Janata Dal (Secular) of colluding with the BJP and said people will reject the H D Deve Gowda-led outfit's "politics of opportunism".
Returning to Karnataka’s Kolar for the first time since his controversial 2019 speech which ultimately led to his disqualification as an MP last month, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally Sunday and continued his salvo against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and businessman Gautam Adani.
Gandhi said “Adani was a symbol. A symbol of corruption” under the PM Modi-led government. The BJP government, he asserted, was trying to intimidate and silence him as they did not want questions on Adani in Parliament. “They are afraid of me. They think that by disqualifying me, they can threaten and make me fear them. I am not afraid of them,” he said. Read more
Disgruntled former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar resigned as MLA on Sunday after expressing anguish over denial of ticket to contest in the May 10 Karnataka Assembly elections, and launched an attack on the BJP, saying those who had built the party are being thrown out of their ‘own house'.
Shortly after the 67-year-old six-time MLA, who had also said he would quit the party, tendered his resignation, Karnataka BJP strongman B S Yediyurappa, slammed him for deserting the J P Nadda-led outfit, and said people would not pardon him for his move.
Shettar, an influential Lingayat leader from north Karnataka, and sitting MLA from Hubli-Dharwad Central, said some people with their vested interests had hatched a conspiracy to not field him this time.
Addressing a public meeting in the poll-bound state, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi raised the Adani issue and said that the industrialist is a symbol of corruption. His statement comes days after the Parliament proceedings were washed over by protests by MPs demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee Probe into the allegations against Adani group by US-based Hinderburg Research. Gandhi also said his party will come to power in Karnataka.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, former Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa said the people of Karnataka will not forgive Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi.
The Karnataka government has cancelled its flagship pilgrimage programme to Varanasi and Ayodhya under the ‘Bharat Gaurav Kashi Darshan’ scheme, in view of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) coming into effect ahead of the May 10 assembly election.
The pilgrimage was scheduled to commence in two batches on April 14 and 28, which has been cancelled following Election Commission’s direction, Karnataka Religious Endowment department which organises the event said in a statement.
The Election Commission in its letter on April 14 directed to stop the booking immediately in view of the MCC coming into effect from March 29, the statement read.
“It is hereby informed that the Election Commission has not granted permission to the tour programme due to which it has cancelled,” the department said.
Reacting to former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar's resignation as BJP MLA on Sunday morning, current CM Basavaraj Bommai told reporters, “It is unfortunate that he (Shettar) is going to resign today. He was the former CM and the party president as well. There will be a small impact on the party & BJP is capable of overcoming it. Party has decided to give way to the younger generation”.
Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who announced his resignation from the BJP and as an MLA late on Saturday, said on Sunday that he will decide the next course of action later; "whether I have to fight independently or with a party".
Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar has announced his resignation from the Bharatiya Janata Party after he was denied a ticket for the May 10 state Assembly election.
The 67-year-old leader said late on Saturday he would also resign from the state Assembly.
However, Shettar, who was the leader of the opposition when the Congress was in power in the state, said he would contest the poll for sure.
Read more
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is all set to address a rally in Kolar today— at the very same venue where a speech he delivered in 2019 led to his disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP earlier this year. The rally was originally slated to take place on April 5, just days after Gandhi was disqualified. It was then postponed a total of three times – from April 5 to 6, to 9 to 10, and now to April 16 (Sunday).
Gandhi’s visit to the poll-bound state of Karnataka is particularly significant as the Congress party is yet to name its candidate for the Kolar Assembly constituency, where former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had sought to contest from. The party has already fielded him from Varuna constituency.
Rahul Gandhi will be paying a visit to poll-bound Karnataka on April 16 i.e tomorrow. He will begin his visit by addressing a public meeting at Kolar. The Congress leader will then have an interaction with Pourakarmikas (Sanitation workers) & Beedi Badi Vyapari (Street Vendors) at Shivananda Sarma Kalakshetra, J. P. Nagar at 5 pm. Later, he will also inaugurate the Indira Gandhi Bhawan in Bengaluru.
? The Janata Dal (Secular) on Saturday released a list of six more candidates for the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka.
? With this, the party has so far released a list of 149 candidates. The first list comprising 93 was released in December last year and 50 on Friday.
? The party has fielded former Congress MLC Raghu Achar from Chitradurga. He had recently joined the JD(S) after being denied a ticket by the Congress.
? The party has given ticket to former MLA Dr Bharathi Shankar to contest from Varuna against Congress heavyweight and former chief minister Siddaramaiah and BJP minister V Somanna. (PTI)
"I've explained everything to him, & there will be a solution. I'm still hopeful; I believe in party high command. I've not spoken to any other political party," said BJP leader & Karnataka ex-CM Jagadish Shettar on his meeting with party leader Pralhad Joshi in Hubballi over poll ticket.
Shettar is the sitting MLA from Hubli-Dharwad Central and the BJP high command had earlier in the week asked him to drop his name for the election that left the former CM upset.
The political fight ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections is intensifying as the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday sought clarification from Congress regarding its alleged relation with banned outfit Popular Front of India and its political wing SDPI.
Speaking to ANI, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that in the run-up to the state Assembly elections, there are issues emerging which are sensitive from the point of view of national security and the policy of Congress.
"The statement of SDPI leader Abdul Majeed that the Congress is pressurizing him to withdraw his candidate from the election shows that he has some understanding and if it was just an isolated statement, SDPI's Mohammad Ilyas, the general secretary of the Congress, has also said that there was a coalition in 2018, which means it was very clear that the alliance was there in 2018 as well as in 2023," he said. (ANI)
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has assets of Rs 49.70 crore, reveals his election affidavit filed before the returning officer on Saturday to contest for the May 10 Assembly elections from Shiggaon constituency in Haveri district.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is all set to address the rally tomorrow, in Kolar, where he remarked on the Modi surname. In pictures: KPCC president D K Shivakumar visited and inspected the preparations at the event venue.
In a rebellious tone, former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar has said denying him a ticket to the Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency for the Assembly polls will have a bearing on at least 20 to 25 seats even as Union Minister Pralhad Joshi met him here on Saturday with an assurance that the party would take an appropriate decision on his candidature.
Shettar is the sitting MLA from Hubli-Dharwad Central and the BJP high command had earlier in the week asked him to drop his name for the election that left the former CM upset.
The BJP has not yet released the list of candidates for 12 constituencies, including Hubli-Dharwad Central. (PTI)
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will contest at least 40 seats in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, party state president Hari R said on Saturday.
The Karnataka NCP president further said that four to five Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs were in touch with the NCP and are expected to join the party before the polls.
"We will fight in at least 40 seats in the upcoming elections. Four to five sitting MLAs of the BJP are in touch with us to join the party. The (former) mayor of Bengaluru may also join our party soon," Hari R told ANI. (ANI)
? The Congress on Saturday released its third list of 43 candidates for the Karnataka Assembly elections
? It has fielded ex-BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi from Athani assembly seat.
? The Congress did not field former chief minister Siddharamaiah from Kolar assembly constituency and instead fielded Kothur G Manjunath from the seat.
? Siddharamaiah was seeking to contest from the Kolar assembly seat as the second constituency. The party has already fielded him from Varuna constituency.
? The party also fielded former Governor Margaret Alva's son Nivedit Alva from the Kumta assembly seat.
The Congress party has released its third list of 43 candidates for Karnataka Assembly elections. Former Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who joined the grand old party yesterday, has got the ticket from the Athani constituency. The kolar seat has been given to Kothur G Manjunath.
The fortunes of five ministers in the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government in Karnataka and their spouses have seen a marked rise from 2018, according to affidavits they filed ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections.
The ministers whose assets have increased substantially are Minister for Medical Education and Health and Family Welfare, K Sudhakar; Minister of Power V Sunil Kumar; Minister for Public Works Department C C Patil; Minister of State for Cooperation ST Somashekhar; and Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani. Read more
“Policing and politics,” Bhaskar Rao says, “are two different things.” That is the retired IPS officer and former Bengaluru police commissioner’s way of saying why he doesn’t see anything unusual in seeking the help of a known rowdy, Sunil alias ‘Silent’ Sunil, to get elected, now that he is on the other side of the ropes as a poll contestant.
Till recently the Karnataka vice-president of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has ambitious plans for the state, Rao only recently moved to the BJP and was given the ticket from Chamrajpet constituency in Bengaluru.
But ‘Silent’ Sunil, who has been appearing at BJP public events recently and nursing the Chamrajpet constituency to make the leap into politics, expected the ticket, and his supporters didn’t hide their displeasure the moment the news came of Rao’s nomination. Read more
In a rebellious tone, former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who was asked by the BJP high command to drop his candidature for the Assembly election from Hubli-Dharwad Central segment, has said denying him a ticket will have a bearing on at least 20 to 25 seats in the state.
Addressing reporters here, the senior BJP leader said he would wait for the party's decision on the ticket till Sunday to decide his next course of action. The BJP has not yet released the list of candidates for 12 constituencies, including Hubli-Dharwad Central.
"I will wait till tomorrow and then I will decide my next course of action," Shettar told reporters here on Friday night. When questioned about the impact on the BJP for treating senior party functionaries in such a manner, he said the ruling dispensation has to think about it.
"The party has to ensure that it should not have any negative impact. Even former CM B S Yediyurappa has said that if Shettar does not get a ticket, then it will have a bearing not in just one place...it will have an immediate effect in many constituencies in north Karnataka -- at least 20 to 25 constituencies," Shettar said.
"It will indeed have an effect across Karnataka but the immediate impact will be seen in 20 to 25 constituencies," he added. As some of the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation councillors offered to tender their resignation, the senior leader said he was grateful to them for showing their affection towards him.
"They (councillors) have expressed their displeasure. They are hurt. For them, it's enough now. Their feelings are hurt so they are expressing their anger by resigning from the municipal corporation," the former Karnataka Assembly speaker said. (PTI)
Congress candidate Baburao Chinchansur, who will be contesting from Gurmitkal seat in the Karnataka Assembly polls, was injured along with his driver and gunman when the car he was travelling in overturned in Kalaburagi district in the early hours of Saturday, police said.
According to the information received, Chinchansur was returning from Yadgir to Kalaburagi in his car when the driver lost control of the vehicle. In an attempt to avoid crashing against a roadside pole, he turned the vehicle on the other side, due to which the vehicle drifted and eventually overturned on the road.
The Congress candidate along with his driver and gunman were rushed to the hospital. Their condition is said to be stable, police said. Chinchansur, who was a BJP MLC, quit the ruling party and resigned from the legislative council to join the Congress last month. He will be contesting the Assembly election slated for May 10 on a Congress ticket.
As a BJP member, Chinchansur had emerged on top by defeating Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge from Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency in 2019. (PTI)
The Janata Dal (Secular) Friday released a second list of 49 candidates for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls, including for the Hassan seat, over which there was a dispute within the Deve Gowda family.
The ticket for the seat has gone to a party worker and not to Bhavani Revanna, the daughter-in-law of H D Deve Gowda and wife of H D Revanna, who had laid claim to it to make her electoral debut. This had been opposed by brother-in-law H D Kumaraswamy.
On Friday, Kumaraswamy claimed that Hassan nominee, Swaroop Prakash, had been decided with Bhavani’s “complete consent”. “With the consent of all the members of our family, we have declared Prakash as the JD(S) candidate for Hassan,” he said. Read more
JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister HD Devegowda Saturday asserted that he would stand with Left parties in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections." (ANI)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will address the 'Jai Bharath Satyagraha' rally in Kolar Sunday. His speech at Kolar, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, had led to his conviction by a Surat court in a defamation case.
A day after quitting BJP on being denied the party ticket to contest May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka, Mudigere MLA M P Kumaraswamy on Friday joined JD(S).
The three-time MLA, who has also resigned as legislator, joined JD(S) in presence of the party's legislature party leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and state President C M Ibrahim.
In the BJP's second list of 23 candidates announced on Wednesday night, Deepak Doddaiah was named as candidate from Mudigere. MP Kumaraswamy has blamed BJP national General Secretary C T Ravi for not getting the ticket. JD(S) has already fielded former MLA B B Ningaiah from Mudigere. (PTI)
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Veerappa Moily on Friday said that the 4 per cent reservation given to the Muslims in his regime was on a scientific basis and it was not on the basis of the religion.
While speaking to ANI, Veerappa Moily said, "This reservation was given by me when I was CM in 1993 and it was done on basis of scientific data and not on the basis of religion. Muslims as a class were included in the backward category and it was absolutely legal. When we took the decision data was there. BJP has scrapped this reservation without any report".
"They should have made a commission or at least should have done consultations. There should have been a report and then a decision should have been taken on the basis of that but nothing has been done," he added.
Veerappa Moily further stated that Congress will restore the 4 per cent reservation quota after coming back to power in Karnataka.
"We will restore it once we come back to power. This decision was unjustified and unscientific," he said. Congress leader also mentioned that opposition parties are in consultation with Congress to fight against BJP as a united ally. (ANI)
Congress party released the list of party election observers for Bangalore City and Assembly Level Observers to oversee the Election Preparations for the Assembly Elections in Karnataka-2023, the party said on Friday. A total of 61 observers in the state have been appointed by Congress to oversee the election preparations for the upcoming elections in Karnataka.
"Congress President has approved the proposal for the appointment of AICC Observersfor Bangalore City and AICC Assembly Level Observers to oversee the Election Preparationsfor the ensuing Assembly Elections in Karnataka-2023, in selective assembly segment/sassigned to each of them, as follows, with immediate effect," the press release mentioned.
The party has appointed 5 observers to Bangalore City from the list of 61 observers. "Congress Party observers for Bangalore City are Ex-PCC chief N. Raghuveera Reddy, Ex MRCC President Sanjay Nirupam, MP Benny Behanan, MP Karti Chidambaram, MP Jothimani," it mentioned. (ANI)
A day after resigning as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA on being denied a party ticket for contesting the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls, M P Kumaraswamy Friday joined the Janata Dal (Secular), according to news agency PTI.
The three-time MLA joined the party in the presence of the party's legislature party leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and state President C M Ibrahim, the report said.
Earlier this week, Deepak Doddaiah was named as candidate from Mudigere by the BJP, while MP Kumaraswamy blamed the party's national General Secretary C T Ravi for not getting the ticket. (PTI)
Karnataka Fisheries Minister S Angara, who had announced his decision to quit politics after being denied a ticket to contest in the upcoming Assembly elections, Friday retracted his statement and said that he will be campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Bhagirathi Murulya, PTI reported.
A six-time MLA from the Sullia constituency in Dakshina Kannada district, Angara, while addressing reporters, said that his abrupt reaction was out of disillusionment after the denial of ticket.
Angara also said he has changed his mind and was grateful the party for the opportunities given to him all these years, the report said.
“I was given ticket to contest several times from the Sullia constituency. I have not indulged in any corruption or shown discrimination towards anyone in my political career,” Angara told the reporters. (PTI)
Days after joining the Congress party, and having been denied ticket to contest the May 10 Assembly elections, Y S V Datta Friday joined back the Janata Dal (Secular).
He will now contest from Kadur constituency on a JD (S) ticket.
Datta had switched from the Janata Dal (Secular) after getting an assurance on a ticket for the elections. However, his name was omitted in the second list of Congress released on April 7.
JD(S) on Friday announced its second list of 49 candidates for the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka.
Ending the suspense about the Hassan seat, the party has fielded H P Swaroop, overlooking JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda's daughter-in-law Bhavani Revanna, who had been firm on contesting from there.
Y S V Datta, who had quit JD(S) and joined Congress but returned to the party recently after being denied a ticket there, has been fielded from Kadur.
Former Minister A Manju, who recently joined the party, has been fielded from Arakalagudu. He has earlier been with both Congress and BJP. The JD(S) had announced its first list of 93 candidates earlier in December. (PTI)
Rebelling against the BJP denying him the ticket from Athani in Belagavi district, former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi joined the Congress today evening.
Enforcement agencies made seizures totalling nearly Rs 150 crore in poll-bound Karnataka since the model code of conduct (MCC) came into force on March 29, the Election Commission said on Friday.
The total seizures valued at Rs 149.58 crore include cash to the tune of Rs 61 crore, liquor worth Rs 33 crore, precious metals Rs 24 crore, freebies (Rs 18 crore) and drugs/narcotics (Rs 13 crore), the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, said.
As many as 1,262 FIRs have been booked with regard to the seizures. (PTI)
Ending all speculations over ticket for Hassan city, HD Kumaraswamy announced today that the JD(S) would field Swaroop Prakash, while denying the ticket to his sister-in-law and HD Revanna's wife Bhavani Revanna.
Swaroop is all set to take on Preetham Gowda from BJP in Hassan city.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai Friday said he was sad that former deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Lakshman Savadi decided to join the Congress, seeing a political future in that party.
As the Congress did not have candidates for more than 60 constituencies, it was inducting leaders from other parties, Bommai added.
Talking to reporters, he said, "It is common that there will be more aspirants in the ruling party. The party workers are with them. The BJP will win the coming Assembly election with a thumping majority. Some of them have quit the party to become MLAs but the BJP workers are with them."
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is expected to file his nomination papers in Shiggaon on Saturday, sources said.
Former Karnataka Administrative Services (KAS) officer L C Nagaraj who is an accused in the Rs 4,000 crore IMA scam found himself among the candidates named in the BJP’s first list on Tuesday night. The IMA, or I Monetary Advisory, was a Bengaluru-based investment firm.
The 55-year-old who joined the BJP recently is the ruling party’s candidate from the Madhugiri seat in Tumakuru, a stronghold of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular). The sitting MLA, M V Veerabhadraiah of the JD(S), defeated the Congress’s K N Rajanna in 2018.
The IMA is accused of collecting thousands of crores from the public, assuring them of higher dividends than regular investment schemes. In 2019, after the company failed to return the money, and its offices shut down, more than 41,000 investors filed complaints and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed. Kiran Parashar reports
Former Congress MLC Raghu Achar, along with former BJP MLAs Dhoddappagowda Patil, Gurulingappa Gowda and Guru Patil joined the Janata Dal (Secular) today.
Amid uncertainty over whether the BJP would give a ticket to senior leader and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar to contest in the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday said the matter was under the consideration of the party high command, and expressed hope that it would be resolved "smoothly".
The BJP top brass, ahead of releasing the first list of candidates earlier this week, had told Shettar to make way for others, but he asserted that he wanted to contest one last time. The party has not yet announced a candidate for the Hubballi-Dharwad Central segment represented by him.
"Ticket for Jagadish Shettar is under the consideration of the party's national leadership. We have expressed our opinion very clearly that the ticket should be given to Jagadish Shettar. Shettar and I had met the national president and held discussions. Everything will be resolved smoothly," Joshi, who also hails from Karnataka said. (PTI)
With the BJP announcing candidates for 212 of the 224 Assembly seats in Karnataka, the pattern of distribution of tickets by the ruling party shows that it is attempting to mollify several communities that it is nervous about following the modification of quotas undertaken by the Basavaraj Bommai-led government in recent months.
In the case of the Scheduled Caste (SC) communities, the BJP has so far announced 34 candidates — out of a maximum of 36 SC-reserved seats — with 16 tickets going to “touchable” sub-groups such as Lambanis and Bhovis. This is seen as an attempt to assuage the anger of the community that is reportedly unhappy with the state government’s recent move to break up the total reservations of 17% in jobs and education available to SCs and provide the “touchable” groups with a 4.5% share. Johnson T A writes
Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar said today that the party is having trouble accommodating the leaders who have quit the BJP on being denied election tickets.
Laxman Savadi has tendered his resignation from the BJP to party president Nalin Kumar Kateel.
The BJP leadership has a task in hand as leaders who have been refused tickets threaten to rock the party’s boat in the run-up to polls in Karnataka. At least 16 sitting MLAs have been denied seats, as the party released its second list of 23 candidates on Wednesday. So far, it has released names for 212 out of a total of 224 constituencies. Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who has not been given a seat yet, expressed his unhappiness openly. Former Deputy CM Laxman Savadi quit the party after being denied a ticket. The dissension will test the party leadership’s managerial skills as the campaign picks up ahead of the May 10 vote.
The Karnataka BJP has been in a state for churn ever since the central leadership decided to look beyond B S Yediyurappa. BSY was the unquestioned leader of the party for decades and credited with building the BJP up from the grass roots. He was also the party’s bridge to the powerful Lingayat community that has backed both BSY and the BJP. His rebellion a decade ago cost the BJP dearly and thereafter, the party has been sensitive to his demands. Read more
Karnataka BJP in-charge Arun Singh on Friday hit out at the Congress, saying it was taking time to release a third list of candidates as there is "internal battle" among its leaders.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Singh said, "The third list will not come, just wait and watch. There is an internal battle among the leaders in the party."
Reacting to the BJP's move of introducing fresh faces as candidates and dropping the older ones, he said, "Not everyone can get election tickets. Naturally, they are hurt at being denied tickets. But BJP members work for an ideology, with the sentiment of nation first. Every member of the party will unite and work together."
On being asked about whom he sees as a better contender, Siddaramaiah or DK Shivakumar, he said, "The Congress is divided into three factions -- Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar and Mallikarjun Kharge. There will be a pitched battle in the Congress when election seats are announced." (ANI)
Days after being denied ticket by the BJP, former Karnataka deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi met senior Congress leaders, including its state unit president D K Shivakumar and LoP Siddaramaiah, in Bengaluru on Friday. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Shivakumar said that Savadi will officially join the grand old party on Friday evening.
Savadi, currently a BJP MLC, is a three-time MLA from Athani but lost in the 2018 elections to Kumathalli (then in the Congress). Kumathalli was among the group of defectors who helped the BJP to bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition and form its government under the leadership of B S Yediyurappa in 2019.
A strong figure in the Karnataka unit of the saffron party, Savadi served as the eighth deputy chief minister of the state and Minister of Transport of Karnataka from 2019 to 2021 in the Fourth BS Yediyurappa ministry. Read the Political Pulse
THE 2018 Assembly election results, not giving any party a clear majority in Karnataka, are set to have an echo in the coming polls. Soon after the results, the BJP had been called to form the government as single-largest party, with 104 MLAs in a House of 224. However, the Congress and JD(S) have quickly come together and assembled 116 names (Congress 76, JD-S 37 and three independents) to remove it. Within a year though, the Congress-JD(S) had been toppled when 17 of their MLAs resigned from the Assembly and changed sides to the BJP.
In subsequent bypolls, held in December 2019, November 2020 and May 2021, 15 of these 17 were given tickets. 12 ended up coming back as BJP MLAs. In the two lists the BJP has released so far, 14 of those 17 MLAs find a place, one of them via his son. The three who haven’t are Roshan Baig, R Shankar and H Vishwanath. Vidhatri Rao writes
Even as the state Assembly elections are right around the corner, former Karnataka deputy chief minister and BJP leader Laxman Savadi is set to join the Congress on Friday, dealing a major blow to the saffron party.
Savadi, who announced his decision to resign from the primary membership of the BJP after being denied a ticket to contest in the May 10 Assembly elections, met state Congress president DK Shivakumar and LoP Siddaramaiah at the latter's residence in Bengaluru on Friday and held discussions.
"He has agreed to become a member of our (Congress) family on his own volition," Shivakumar said. Read more
Dealing a major blow to the ruling BJP ahead of the May 10 Karnakata elections, former deputy CM Laxman Savadi has decided to join the Congress, informed the party's state president DK Shivakumar on Friday. Savadi met the Congress's state president Shivakumar and the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah at the latter's residence in Bengaluru on Friday.
Shivakumar said a press conference will be held later today where Savadi will make his political switch official. "We are welcoming lakshman Savadi to the party at 4pm. He will also address the press there. He has decided to join us," Shivakumar told reporters on Friday.
Savadi, on April 12, resigned as a Legislative Council member and from the primary membership of the BJP after missing out on a ticket to seek a fresh mandate from his Assembly constituency, Athani.
Former CM Siddramaiah said, "Savadi is joining the Congress. The BJP shouldn't have treated him like this. His only condition is that he should be treated properly. It's confirmed hundred percent that he will get a ticket to contest the Athani seat. I hope he wins his Assembly seat." Meanwhile, former MLC and Congress leader Raghu Achar joined former ally JD(S) on Friday in the presence of party chief HD Deve Gowda and former CM HD Kumaraswamy.
Earlier, on Tuesday, the incumbent BJP announced its first list of 189 candidates. The list featured 52 fresh faces and 8 women. In the 2018 polls, the BJP emerged as the largest single party, winning 104 seats, with the Congress and then ally JD(S) bagging 80 and 37 seats respectively. (ANI)
The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is planning to contest 40-45 seats in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections where the BJP, Congress and the JD(S) are locked in a triangular contest. Pawar has summoned a meeting of party leaders in Mumbai on Saturday to finalise its plans for the assembly elections in Karnataka scheduled for May 10.
"We are meeting in Mumbai tomorrow to finalise our plans for the Karnataka elections," Pawar said here. The move is also seen as an attempt by the NCP to regain the national party status it had to forego due to its depleted political fortunes in states such as Goa, Meghalaya and Manipur.
The NCP had written to the Election Commission for allocation of the ‘alarm clock' symbol for the Karnataka Assembly elections, a request that was acceded to by the poll authority. NCP leaders said that the party was planning to put up candidates on at least 40-45 of the total 224 seats, across the state and extend support to the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti in the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary region which is home to a sizeable Marathi-speaking population.
Pawar's announcement of plans for Karnataka came a day after his meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on the need to forge opposition unity to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections next year. (PTI)
BJP candidate from the Shikaripura Assembly seat BY Vijayendra said Friday: "Today, the BJP has reached every nook and corner of Karnataka because of BS Yediyurappa and other senior leaders. Today, Karnataka is happy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and the double-engine government."
"I'm blessed to contest from the constituency that my father represented for 40 years. I am happy to contest from Shikaripur. It is a dream come true for me... It's unfair to say that I have been given ticket as I'm BS Yediyurappa's son," he added. (ANI)
Asserting that his father and former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa never sought tickets for his sons, BJP candidate from the Shikaripura Assembly seat BY Vijayendra said Friday: "It is the party's high-command decision to give tickets. He (BSY) wants family members to grow on their own. Being Yediyurappa's son, I don't have the luxury." (ANI)
The BJP is optimistic of a full majority in the coming Karnataka Assembly elections, as well as upbeat about beating the JD(S) and Congress in belts in which they have had an edge in recent polls, says incumbent Minister for Higher Education and Skill Development Dr C N Ashwathnarayan.
In the list released on Tuesday, the party has refielded him from Malleshwaram in Bengaluru Urban district. Read full interview with Karnataka Higher Education Minister here
Not only did the BJP’s first list of candidates announced on Tuesday focus on youthful faces but, going by the number of senior leaders who were either dropped or kept waiting for their names to appear in the party’s second candidates’ list, it signals a possible change of guard in the state BJP leadership.
Nine sitting MLAs have been asked to hang up their boots to make way for fresh faces, a decision that has left at least some of them noticeably unhappy. On this list are leaders such as former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, former Deputy CM K S Eshwarappa, and former minister S Angara. The decision to field senior ministers R Ashoka and V Somanna in two constituencies each is being seen as a message to these leaders to prove their mettle or be pushed down the party’s hierarchy. Read more