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A ll the 17 Indian National Congress(INC) and Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) Members of state Assembly but for R Roshan Baig(former Shivajinagar Congress MLA) have formally joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) on 14 November and have also been gifted with the saffron party tickets to contest the ensuing 05 December bye-polls. But now the moot point haunting the ruling party top brass is: Forget most of them, whether at least a handful of them will be able to emerge victorious? There are multiple reasons and doubts for such a feeling to pervade among all those who matter in the corridors of power under the present dispensation. Probably it’s a strange situation the ruling party has come across wherein it needs to register victory at least in eight out of the 15 constituencies to retain a simple majority. The interesting noteworthy feature and paradoxical turn of circumstances this time around is that the ruling BJP must first win over its own party cadres and leaders much before it ...

T he BS Yediurappa led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government has enough reasons to heave a sigh of relief following an olive leaf offered by HD Kumaraswamy, former chief minister and state Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) party president. HD Kumaraswamy recently announced: Siddaramaiah, former chief minister and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) may be in a hurry to topple this government and go for elections. But I will not allow that to happen…The sudden and unexpected move by the self-proclaimed regional peasants outfit otherwise dubbed as father and sons, now grandsons’ party by detractors is not out of any special love and affection for the saffron party or its chief minister but for a well-orchestrated political strategy to exist and thrive. Of late the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) legislature party is a divided house and has internally led into multiple diverse factions. Three legislators including H Vishwanath (represented Hunsuru constituency in Mysuru district) former state par...

The BS Yediyurappa led Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) government in the state has managed to complete 100 days in office despite several hurdles all along the way.Looking back at those 100 days will not pave way for a pleasant memory either to partymen nor the onlookers. In fact, from day one itself, the saffron party's mass leader is embroiled into several instances of uneasiness, embarrassment and humiliation! For being the legislative party leader by the virtue of also being the opposition leader there was no necessity for the then party in the opposition benches to reelect him again as the floor leader to be sworn in as the new chief minister. As expected BS Yediyurappa took the oath of office and secrecy as the new chief minister after the HD Kumaraswamy led Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S)-Indian National Congress(INC) alliance government failed to prove its majority in the state Assembly Such a change over was made possible, thanks to the resignation of 14 Congress and three ...

( Photo:ANI ) N alin Kumar Kateel , three times Member of Parliament from South Canara(Mangaluru) Lok Sabha constituency took over as the new president of the state Bharatiya Janata Party this morning at the party office Bengaluru. BS Yediyurappa outgoing president and Chief Minister handed over the mantle by transferring the party flag and wishing him a fruitful tenure. He also felicitated the new president with a gorgeous silk shawl, traditional garland and a memento. No doubt it was a joyous occasion and celebration for the new president as he had restricted himself as a leader of the coastal belt of South Canara and Udupi districts so far by his fiery and equally controversial speeches. However, it's altogether sweet and sour feeling for the average party workers' who continue to remain the backbone of the party. 17 new ministers were sworn in only a week back but for some of them, it wasn't any important function to attend. R Ashoka, Revenue Minister and former D...

The BS Yeddyurappa led Bharatiya Janata Party state government won the vote of confidence motion by a voice vote this morning and later also sought approval for the finance bills. However, the smooth proceedings also became an eyewitness to the exit of KR Rameshkumar from the position of Assembly Speaker. Today, the much-awaited vote of confidence motion in the BJP government was approved without any hassles. Thanks to the 105 members strength of the ruling party and the opposition Indian National Congress(INC) and Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) parties' combined strength of 99 apart from the Speaker, there was no doubt about the saffron party making it through. One Independent MLA who resigned as a minister is also supporting the BJP now. In fact, Karnataka Assembly has a total strength of 224 elected members while one person is nominated from the Anglo-Indian community. But the nominated member has no rights to vote during the crucial vote of confidence. As 14 Congress and three JD...

KR Rameshkumar, Speaker of the state Assembly today disqualified 11 Indian National Congress(INC) and Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) members of the state Assembly with immediate effect while the disqualified legislators have described the ruling as lopsided and will contest the same in the court. The disqualified legislators are as follows: Indian National Congress(INC) 1.Prathapgouda Patil(Maski constituency in Raichur district) 2.BC Patil(Hirekerur in Haveri district) 3.Shivaram Hebbar(Yellapura in North Canara district) 4.ST Somasekhar(Yeshavantapura in Bengaluru Urban district) 5.Bhairathi A Basavaraj(KR Puram In Bengaluru Urban district) 6.Anandsingh(Vijayanagar in Ballari district) 7.R Roshan Baig(Shivajinagar in Bengaluru Urban district) 8.Muniratna(Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bengaluru Urban district) 9.Dr K Sudhakarreddy(Chikkaballapur in Chikkaballapur district) 10.MTB Nagaraj(Hoskote in Bengaluru Rural district) 11.Shrimanth Balasaheb Patil(Kagwad in Belagavi district). Janata Dal-...

T he BS Yeddyurappa led Bharatiya Janata Party government may not find it a big problem to prove its majority on the floor of the house on Monday, July 29 July. But how long and how far it will be able to provide stability looks to be a major challenge to the party managers. Thanks to the 13 Indian National Congress(INC) and three Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) MLAs', who have chosen to remain far away from the proceedings of the state Assembly as well as the state itself, there is no possibility of immediate danger to the BJP government. BS Yeddyurappa is also thinking of forming the cabinet after proving his majority in the state Assembly. As of now the strength of the ruling party is 105 while that of the opposition INC-JD-S is 100 including the KR Rameshkumar, Speaker. The speaker usually casts his vote when there is a tie and prefers to remain neutral when the situation doesn't warrant his vote to be polled. In the present circumstances, he has no necessity for the same. On...

Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa(76) of the Bharatiya Janata Party was sworn in as the 24th Karnataka Chief Minister this evening on the lawns of Raj Bhavan. He is becoming the chief minister of the state for the fourth time. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered him the oath of office and secrecy.BS Yeddyurappa was sporting his traditional white safari and a green shawl on his shoulders. He alone took the oath and was not accompanied by any ministers. He became the chief minister for the first time on 12 November 2007 only to quit the post within a week on 19 November as the HD Kumaraswamy led Janata Dal-Secular legislature party refused to extend support under a pact of sharing power 20-20 months each.In the subsequent midterm elections, the JD-S not handing over power to the BJP itself became a big electoral issue paving way for a BJP led government in 2008.In that way, he led the first Bharatiya Janata Party government of any South Indian state and thus Karnataka began the g...

ImageSource: newsnation.in Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa (76) of the Bharatiya Janata Party was sworn in as the 24th Karnataka Chief Minister this evening on the lawns of Raj Bhavan. He is becoming the chief minister of the state for the fourth time. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered him the oath of office and secrecy. BS Yeddyurappa alone was sworn in and no cabinet ministers accompanied the chief minister during the swearing-in ceremony. He took oath in the name of God.He was sporting as his usual white safari and was wearing a green shawl to depict his commitment to the farming community. The designate chief minister had appealed leaders of both, Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) and Indian National Congress(INC) parties to take part in the swearing-in function. However, none of them turned up.BL Santosh, National Organizing General Secretary of BJP and P Muralidhar Rao, party in charge of the state represented the party high command on this occasion. Almost all party MPs...

R Shankar, Ramesh Jharkiholi and Mahesh Kumatalli , all Congress MLAs' have been disqualified from the membership of the state Assembly with immediate effect and till May 2023. KR Rameshkumar, Speaker of the state Assembly announced in this regard late in the evening today and clarified that all the disqualified legislators are not only barred from contesting elections but also from holding any offices of profit. R Shankar represented Ranebennur constituency in Haveri district, Ramesh Jharkiholi was elected from Gokak while Mahesh Kumatalli had won from Athani, both the constituencies from Belagavi district. It may be recollected that R Shankar, a former Congressman, after failing to get party ticket rebelled against the party and contested before KB Koliwad, Congress candidate and Speaker of the outgoing Assembly. He emerged victorious in the nomination of Karnataka Prajnavanta Janata Party(KPJP), an outfit floated by 'Real Star' Upendra. The KPJP MLA, on the next day of...

B haratiya Janata Party(BJP) has at last succeeded in its seventh attempt, thanks to ‘Operation Lotus’, to dislodge the 14 months old HD Kumaraswamy led Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) and Indian National Congress(INC) coalition parties state government. Perhaps the big difference this final time was that the mission was kept as a closely guarded secret, unlike the previous six times when all the BJP leaders, top and sundry kept on announcing day in and day out that the JDS-INC government is going to fall! BS Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the Chief Minister for the third time soon after the May 2018 Assembly elections although the party had won only in 104 seats and was far away from the magical 113 number to prove the majority. ImageSource: patrika.com To suit the challenge before the party, Governor Vajubhai Vala gave a long rope of two weeks period to prove the majority. Irked by this prolonged time frame, both the Congress and JDS approached the Supreme Court.Probably for the firs...

ImageSource: kannada.news18.com T he 14 months old HD Kumaraswamy led Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) and Indian National Congress(INC) coalition government, as expected lost its vote of confidence motion on the floor of the house this evening, paving way for a Bharatiya Janata Party-led new government. The vote of confidence motion moved by HD Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister received 99 votes while 105 votes were polled against the same. 20 MLAs' belonging to the ruling JDS-INC combine, including stayed away from the proceedings while KR Rameshkumar, speaker opted not to vote. 103 is the magical number required in the present circumstances and the present alliance struggled to muster a strength of only 99. It may be recollected here that although the Monsoon session of the state Assembly commenced from 12 July, the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party insisted on a floor test on the pretext that the ruling combine had lost the majority.Initially, HD Kumaraswamy had claimed of se...

T he state Assembly was today adjourned amidst noisy scenes, angry exchanges between the ruling and opposition party members culminating into a Dharana by the ruling side thus paving way for a night-long protest by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the house. In the process, the purpose for which the lower house had reassembled, a discussion and polling on the crucial vote of confidence motion became a casualty as the proposed debate never got initiated. Thanks to HD Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, former chief minister and Congress legislature party leader and their clever ploy and strategy. The disruption of the proceedings, in spite of the Speaker allowing the leader of the house to move the motion on a vote of confidence, got derailed in such a way that the discussion never took off! The lower house was scheduled to meet today with the sole intention of taking up the vote of confidence in the Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S)-Indian National Congress(INC) coalition gov...

 T oday's interim judgement of the three members divisional bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, directing the Karnataka Assembly Speaker to act upon the resignation letters submitted by the 15 dissident Janata Dal-Secular and Indian National Congress(INC) MLAs' within a timeframe has come out as a big blow to the coalition government while providing relief to the disgruntled legislators. The apex court has also ruled out that the resignations of the 15 MLAs' have to be taken into cognisance by the speaker in accordance with the provisions of section 190 of the constitution but however, has refused to insist on a specific timeframe. There were celebration moods and a big sigh of relief amidst the dissident legislators' presently confining themselves within the Mumbai luxury hotel. A video has been released on behalf of all the 15 dissident MLAs', welcoming the apex court's judgement.At the same time, they have also told in clear terms that none of them...

T hanks to the present power politics and crisis prevailing in the state, the omnipotent and all-pervasive almighty appears to be under duress and undue pressure from all those crossing swords only to somehow manage to grab power, hook or crook! The outcome of the general elections of May 2018 to the state Assembly threw a fractured verdict with no clear cut majority to either of the three major players, Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), Indian National Congress(INC) and the Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S).But prior to these public polls and also during them and much before the declaration of results, many ardent political devotees literally started making a bee-line to all possible pilgrimage centres within the state and also in the neighbouring ones.A new word 'temple-run' was also coined by the regional broadcast media to do justice to the newfound activity in an unheard manner. HD Devegowda, the former prime minister and his family members performed 'Atirudra Mahayaaga' ...

T he floor test to decide fate of the HD Kumaraswamy led Janata Dal-Secular and Indian National Congress(INC) alliance government is now scheduled on coming Thursday, 18 July and all the stakeholders, including the JDS-INC and Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) have consented to the Assembly Speaker's suggestion in this connection. ImageSource: timesofindia.indiatimes.com In fact, the date was ultimately resolved by the concerned parties after a prolonged round of discussions by the speaker KR Rameshkumar. As per the earlier schedule, the lower house was supposed to meet for the day at 12.30 pm. but it took it almost took two hours for it to assemble. BS Yeddyurappa, leader of opposition in the Assembly was initially insisting to consider his no-confidence motion for discussion today itself. However, HD Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister prevailed upon the former to agree for Thursday as the petitions of 15 MLAs' is scheduled to come for hearing tomorrow.After much dilly-dallying b...

 13 July being a second Saturday was a state government holiday across the state and all government offices and establishments remained closed. But for the lawmakers, it continued to remain a hectic day as the ruling Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) and Indian National Congress(INC) evinced enough enthusiasm of winning the vote of confidence while the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is facing a threat of 'Reverse Operation'. MTB Nagaraj, Hoskote Congress MLA who had resigned to his membership of the state legislature just a couple of days back along with Dr K Sudhakar, Chikkaballapur Congress MLA did a U-turn today by resolving to withdraw his resignation. This change of heart in him was preceded by more than six hours of parleys he had with DK Shivakumar, Major Irrigation Minister and Dr G Parameshwar, Deputy Chief Minister and Siddaramaiah, former chief minister and leader of the Congress legislature party.He was also persuaded by HD Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister over the phone an...

ImageSource:hindustantimes.com KR Rameshkumar, Speaker of the state Assembly today adhered to the directions of the Supreme Court by receiving the resignations of the dissident MLAs' belonging to both, Indian National Congress(INC) and Janata Dal-Secular(JDS) ruling parties. However he parried queries over any time frame for either accepting or rejecting the same thus giving a go ahead to the prevailing piquant political situation. Now it looks that the sword of acting against all the disgruntled legislators are more bright with the weapon like disqualification as all the rebel legislators have returned back to Mumbai while the Monsoon session is set to begin from tomorrow. The finance bill is being presented tomorrow on the very maiden day of the session and whips have been issued by both the ruling parties to the members to be present in the house without fail and failure to do so is enough to act to disqualify such erring members.On the other hand all the disgruntled Me...

T he state is reeling under severe drought conditions with people suffering from drinking water and scarcity of fodder but the people whom they elected as their representatives have no time to listen to their woes as they are overbusy in their political games! ImageSource: justdial.com This is not for the first time that the state is witnessing such a wreckless situation as it was also the same pathetic plight during October 2009 when a Bharatiya Janata Party government was in office. Then BS Yeddyurappa was the chief minister and Gali Janardhan Reddy, Tourism minister in his cabinet.An ordinary head constable's son turned mining baron, G Janardhan Reddy had literally taken the BS Yeddyurappa led BJP government for a toss as he chose to fly to Hyderabad and Goa along with more than 40 ruling party MLAs' to rebel against the 'dictatorial attitude' of the chief minister. Then most regions of the North Karnataka were marooned due to heavy rains and rapid floods ther...

image source: indiatoday.in T he tussle for retaining and assuming political power in the state of Karnataka has stooped to a new low unheard of so far with the political morale getting stuck up on the street drain.Today appeared to be a crucial day in terms of hectic turnout of political developments, both to the ruling Janata Dal-Secular-Indian National Congress combine and Bharatiya Janata Party, the main opposition party. DK Shivakumar, former state Major Irrigation Minister and Man Friday of the coalition JDS-INC parties suffered a setback as he was prevented entry to the luxury hotel where some Congress and JDS legislators are holed up.In fact he was on a mission to persuade the former legislator colleagues to win them back to the party fold. He was denied entry by the policemen in spite of having booked a room in the same hotel.He was also informed by the police on duty that his booking has been cancelled. A reluctant Shivakumar, refused to budge and continued to stay ...