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Tag: Karnataka

  • Karnataka polls: Congress, BJP begin infighting to form government

    Karnataka polls: Congress, BJP begin infighting to form government

    Hubli (IANS) | After most exit polls predicted a fractured mandate in Karnataka, both the major parties Congress and BJP have started infighting to form the government. BJP leaders told IANS that if they do not get a majority, they will try to break the elected Congress and JD(S) MLAs.

    Although Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad also told IANS, Congress is not the old Congress of Karnataka. We have come a long way and horse trading of our MLAs is not possible.

    Senior Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah asked AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C. In touch with Venugopal.

    Karnataka Congress leaders are upbeat about two bigwigs joining the party — former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and former Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Suvadi — leaving the BJP.

    Meanwhile, former chief minister and JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy said he would keep his MLAs together and would stake claim for the chief minister’s post.

    The JD(S) leadership believes that had it not been for some internal issues, the party could have got more seats than predicted by the exit polls.

    –IANS

  • Karnataka election 2023 exit poll results: Check time, date and other details here

    Karnataka election 2023 exit poll results: Check time, date and other details here

    Karnataka went to the polls today as voting began at 7 am and will go on till 6 in the evening. As soon as the polling is declared closed, agencies like CVoter, Lokniti-CSDS, Axis My India and Today’s Chanakya are expected to release their exit poll results on TV channels. Polling is being held for 224 seats in the state where the stakes are high for both the BJP and the Congress. The ruling BJP is eyeing to script history while a combative Congress eyes a comeback ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

    About 2% voter turnout was recorded till 3 pm. There are more than 5.3 crore registered electors in the state with almost equal numbers of men (2.66 crore) and women (2.63 crore). Votes will be counted on May 13.

    Karnataka has never voted an incumbent party to power since 1985. Ruling BJP, riding on the Modi juggernaut, wants to break the 38-year jinx and tighten the grip on its southern stronghold. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed 19 public meetings and held six roadshows. Amit Shah held 16 public rallies and 14 roadshows. BJP chief JP Nadda held 10 public meetings and 16 roadshows.

    Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, held various roadshows, rallies and elections campaigns.

    A total of 5,31,33,054 electors are eligible to cast their vote in 58,545 polling stations across the state, where 2,615 candidates are in the fray, in what is being seen mainly as a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular)

    In the 2018 Karnataka polls, the voter turnout was 72.36 per cent. In the outgoing Assembly, BJP had 116 MLAs, Congress at 69 and JD(S) 29.

    Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has appealed to voters to come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise. He urged the young and urban voters and participate actively in the “festival of democracy, defeating the prevalent trend of urban apathy in the state”. (With Agency Inputs)

  • Karnataka polls: Polling official arrested for allowing woman to vote

    Karnataka polls: Polling official arrested for allowing woman to vote

    Hubli (IANS) | Voting is going on for the assembly elections in Karnataka on Wednesday. Meanwhile, following the complaint of a woman voter, a polling officer has been detained by the police. The woman alleges that the officer, while helping in the voting process, got her vote cast in favor of the BJP. The incident took place at a polling station in Chittapur constituency of Kalaburagi district. Basamma Antuman polling officer B.C. Chouhan to cast her vote in favor of Congress candidate Priyank Kharge. However, the officer cast his vote in favor of BJP candidate Manikant Rathod.

    When the woman opposed this, the Congress workers created ruckus on the spot. Priyank Kharge reached the spot and complained to Election Officer Naveen Kumar. The polling officer was immediately taken off duty and replaced by another officer.

    Based on the complaint, the polling officer was taken into police custody. In Chhatarpur constituency, Priyank Kharge, son of former minister and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, is pitted against BJP’s Manikant Rathore.

    Congress alleges that there are more than 80 criminal cases registered against Manikant Rathore. An audio clip purportedly of Manikant Rathod had gone viral on social media in which he was heard saying that Mallikarjun Kharge’s family would be wiped out.

    This led to a fierce fight between the Congress and the BJP.

    –IANS

  • Defeat hate, K Kavitha tells Karnataka voters

    Defeat hate, K Kavitha tells Karnataka voters

    Hyderabad (IANS) | Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K. Kavitha on Wednesday appealed to the voters of Karnataka to defeat hatred and vote for development. Voting is underway for the Karnataka Assembly elections. Kavita made this appeal on Twitter.

    BRS President and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter Kavita tweeted, Dear Karnataka, Reject the hatred. Vote for development, prosperity and betterment of society and people.

    Meanwhile, Kavita resumed her normal activity from Wednesday after recovering from a fracture last month.

    Kavitha, a member of the Telangana Legislative Council, tweeted, “Today after recovering from injury, I visited Kondagattu and offered prayers.” May God bless us all with good health and prosperity.

    A month ago, he had suffered an avulsion fracture due to a slip and fall at his home. The doctors advised him to take rest for three weeks.

    An avulsion fracture occurs when the ligaments around the bones tear, causing a small part of the bone to separate. Avulsion fractures are especially common in athletes who jump and jump.

    –IANS

  • Karnataka Elections 2023: BJP moves EC, seeks immediate action against Cong, Sonia Gandhi over Karnataka ‘sovereignty’ remark

    Karnataka Elections 2023: BJP moves EC, seeks immediate action against Cong, Sonia Gandhi over Karnataka ‘sovereignty’ remark

    New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday knocked on the door of the Election Commission against remarks made by former Congress president on ‘sovereignty of Karnataka’. The remark has triggered a massive political storm in the run-up to the Karnataka assembly election, scheduled to be held on May 10. Reports said that a delegation of the BJP went to the poll panel office in the national capital.
    “She (Sonia Gandhi) deliberately used the word sovereignty. Congress manifesto is the agenda of the ‘Tukde-Tukde’ gang and hence they are using such words. We hope EC will take action against this anti-national act”, Union minister Bhupender Yadav told reporters.

    SONIA GANDHI’s SOVEREIGNTY REMARK
    While addressing a rally in the Hubbali district of Karnataka, Congress’ official Twitter handle posted,”CPP Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji sends a strong message to 6.5 crores Kannadigas: “The Congress will not allow anyone to pose a threat to Karnataka’s reputation, sovereignty or integrity.”
    Later Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders lambasted the grand old party over the remark. Prime Minister Modi accused the party of openly advocating for “separating” Karnataka from India.
    Referring to Sonia’s speech in a tweet, the party said Gandhi, who is the Congress Parliamentary Party, Chairperson, “sends a strong message to 6.5 crore Kannadigas”. It also posted pictures of Gandhi speaking at the public meeting.
    Addressing the public meeting in Mysuru district, he accused them of secretly meeting foreign diplomats who hate India, repeatedly indulging in activities that insult India’s sovereignty and said they are not ashamed of it.

  • In Karnataka’s Assembly Elections, BJP’s Hindutva Juggernaut Faces Dravida Wall

    In Karnataka’s Assembly Elections, BJP’s Hindutva Juggernaut Faces Dravida Wall

    Three seemingly unconnected events in three southern states were shaking peninsular India last week, and on them rests Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) claim of ruling with credible authority over all of the sprawling country. It seems the Karnataka assembly elections this week is more than yet another provincial election.

    The 10 May elections will serve as acid tests for two issues: Whether or not Modi is losing his political swag as a national vote puller, and whether Hindutva, the ideology centered around religiosity and culture rather than material gains, works south of the Vindhyas.

    Karnataka Elections: At Tipu Sultan’s Birthplace, No One Cares About Propaganda
    A Late Swing Towards Hindutva
    Modi led a 26-km election-eve road show in Bangalore in what admirers would call a display of strength and critics an act of desperation. After all, most of the pre-poll surveys show the incumbent BJP losing and Congress getting a decisive majority in the assembly.

    Clearly, the BJP’s show of thronging crowds and assertive speeches are aimed at wooing not just fence-sitters who may be undecided on where to press their ballot fingers, but also a unique category of Indian voters who do not like to waste their votes: they go with the party that they think has higher chances. BJP’s noisy pomp underlined the importance of such optics in influencing voting behaviour.
    There is also a clear late swing in the BJP’s campaigning agenda towards its familiar Hindutva ideology, usually seen more in the North than in the South. Modi spoke explicitly about the threat of Islamisation through the party’s pet theme of “Love Jihad” as he invoked ‘The Kerala Story’ hitting screens across India. The movie has its storyline woven around Muslim men wooing Hindu girls on the pretext of marriage only to radicalise them is now part of the BJP’s campaign toolkit.

    Strangely enough, the movie that serious critics have panned as amateurish, exaggerated propaganda, is making waves more in the North than in the South where its plot is supposed to have unfolded — and on that hangs BJP’s aim of injecting Hindutva sentiment in what we might call Dravida zone.

    Tamil Nadu and the Dravida Model
    This is where we need to look at the events surrounding Modi’s road show, both in Karnataka and neighbouring Tamil Nadu. Apart from sharing the river Cauvery, which has been historically an object of their disputes over water-sharing, the two states also have a strong political culture centred around job quotas based on caste and community and ambitions of backward classes that BJP likes to gloss over up North. In its quest for votes, the Modi brigade relies on religiosity and muscular infrastructure projects like airports and snazzy long-distance trains. Its emphasis on education, health, and quotas is only a somewhat reluctant add-on.

    Tamil Nadu’s chief minister M K Stalin and the state’s BJP-appointed governor R N Ravi were locked last week in yet another episode of a long-drawn ideological battle centred around Stalin’s description of the quota-goodies-based egalitarian socialist platform that he calls the “Dravida model”. Ravi described the model as outdated, inviting a rebuttal from the DMK.
    The fact is that Karnataka has also been practicing the Dravida model for decades, though the label has not been used. Rival Lingayat and Vokkaliga groups and backward castes like the Idigas and Kurubas have been jostling for political goodies like quotas in government jobs and college seats to acquire modern educational degrees. The Lingayats have an 800-year history of defying Hindu orthodoxy though their Shiva-worshipping pontiffs may superficially resemble Hindutva leaders.

    It is only a coincidence that cricketer Rahul Dravid is from Bangalore and is called The Wall for his defensive batting style. In the race to capture political power in the state capital, the BJP is facing a Dravida wall of another kind.

    A Soft Dravida Model for the BJP?
    The BJP is only too aware of this.

    Congress chief minister Devaraj Urs had tried to unite the OBCs against the Lingayats and Vokkaligas in the 1970s. BJP’s current chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has been trying to shuffle the quota pack to eke out more backward caste votes to match what was once a Congress party trick.

    But the BJP has been unable to contain the ambitions of Lingayat leaders in stark contrast from the North, where local leaders worship Modi in a culture of sycophancy. The BJP is also fighting a corruption tag in Karnataka more than any other state. Its chosen image as a clean party is in serious doubt here.
    Quietly but steadily, the BJP has been embracing the Dravida model and the politics of goodies in a soft way, even as Modi publicly frowns on the culture of freebies funded by the taxpayer that he calls “revdis”. The BJP’s Karnataka manifesto, apart from its Hindutva-laced promise of bringing in a Uniform Civil Code that targets Muslim marriage laws, also promises ration kits for the poor and three free cooking gas cylinders per year to poor families.

    You could say Karnataka is the country’s main battleground in an ideological war between Hindutva champions and social justice warriors. Only the coastal Mangalore belt seems easily within the Hindutva grasp. Elsewhere, the BJP has had to crawl through a minefield of other factors. The May 13 verdict will show whether Hindutva has made a dent in Dravida-style politics, or is only a northern juggernaut stopped on its tracks.

  • Election Commission issues notice to Karnataka Congress President

    Election Commission issues notice to Karnataka Congress President

    New Delhi. Congress has got a big blow before the Karnataka elections, the Election Commission has issued a notice to the Congress President. BJP lodges complaint against Karnataka Congress President. After which the Election Commission has issued a notice to the Congress President.
    For this the Congress party released its manifesto and in it compared PFI to Bajrang Dal. The Congress party promised in its manifesto that it would ban Bajrang Dal if it formed the government. This issue was taken up by the BJP and now the politics of Karnataka is focusing on Bajrangbali. PM Narendra Modi has also started many of his public meetings with the slogans of Bajrang Bali. At the same time, the Congress party has also decided to answer the BJP by raising the issue of the temple. Congress President DK Shivakumar visited Chamundeshwari Temple. After this, on the controversy related to Bajrang Dal, he said, “If we come to power, we will build every Hanuman temple in the entire state. A special board will also be constituted to see how the work is going on in this regard. Along with this, special programs will also be done to take the principles of Lord Hanuman to the youth.

    Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar has also raised the issue of Anjaneya temple. DK Shivakumar while talking to the media said that if the Congress party gets absolute majority after the elections, it will redevelop the Anjaneya Swamy temples across Karnataka. Speaking to the media, DK Shivakumar said, “After winning the Karnataka elections, the government will bring a special program for the redevelopment of all the historic Anjaneya Swamy temples in the state. Apart from this, Anjanadri Development Board will be established. Congress in its manifesto has talked about banning Bajrang Dal. BJP is raising questions on this. On the other hand, when asked questions regarding this, DK Shivakumar said, “BJP people are making Bajrang Dal an issue but the party does not have any problem with this and Congress will get full majority. Anjaneya Temple and Bajrangbali can never be compared with Bajrang Dal. Bajrang Dal is a political party which does nuisance work to benefit BJP.”

  • Bajrang Dal row rages in Karnataka; Eshwarappa burns Congress manifesto, Kharge retaliates

    Bajrang Dal row rages in Karnataka; Eshwarappa burns Congress manifesto, Kharge retaliates

    Kalaburagi(IANS): Controversy over Congress’s proposal to ban Bajrang Dal if voted to power in the state, has intensified with allegations and counter-allegations flowing thick and fast.

    Taking the row to the next level, former Minister and BJP MLA K.S. Eshwarappa, along with other members, burnt the copy of Congress manifesto after a press conference here on Thursday.

    Hitting back at the BJP, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge stated that by burning the manifesto copy, Eshwrappa had insulted the people. “We too are Hindus, but don’t have your freedom,” he underlined.

    Eshwarappa accused the Congress of raking up caste and religious matters in the manifesto. It is indulging in dividing society by sowing hatred in the name of caste and religion, he said.

    Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar must be arrested, he demanded. The Election Commission should take action in this regard, he said.

    Likening Bajrang Dal to Lord Bajrang Bali, he said, “When the demons set Bajrang Bali’s tail afire, Lanka was reduced to ashes (reference from Ramayana). Similarly, the Congress, which is seeking a ban on the Bajrang Dal, would be decimated in the polls and won’t even get enough seats to sit in the opposition in the state.”

    This is not Congress manifesto, this is Mohammad Ali Jinnah manifesto, he maintained.

    “The group of youths who protect religion is Bajrang Dal. You ban Bajrang Dal involved in saving cows and preventing cow slaughter? I will burn the manifesto right here,” he said and burnt it.

    Congress wants to make it a Hindu-Muslim election. They are identifying themselves as Muslims. Are Muslim votes enough for you? Don’t you want Hindu votes? Eshwarappa questioned.

    Meanwhile, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge condemned Eshwarappa’s act of burning Congress manifesto. “Whether you like it or not, burning a manifesto is not appropriate,” he said.

    The clarification for the proposal to ban Bajrang Dal would be given by the manifesto committee President Dr. G. Parameshwar, D.K. Shivakumar and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala. “Eshwarappa has burnt the Congress manifesto. That means he burnt the assurances of guarantee schemes given to people,” he said.

    By this act, Eshwarappa has insulted the people. One should have tolerance in democracy. They are claiming that Congress is anti-Hindu. “BJP’s ideology and faith are different from ours. We are also Hindus. You (BJP) are also Hindus. But, we don’t have the freedom enjoyed by you,” he underlined.

    BJP leaders to join Bajrang Dal in Hanuman Chalisa recital across state

    BJP on Thursday announced to launch a movement against Congress’s proposal to ban Bajrang Dal, ahead of the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls.

    The manifesto promise by Congress has been turned into a launch pad for BJP in the last phase of the election campaign which will end on May 8.

    According to Bajrang Dal workers, the event has been organised across the temples especially in Hanuman temples on Thursday between 1 pm and 7 pm. The BJP has declared its support and also officially stated that its leaders will participate in the event.

    Earlier in the day, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shobha Karandlaje dared the Congress leaders to attend the event. “Today evening across Karnataka, in all regions, we will take part in the event with the public. Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, who accused BJP leaders of not knowing Hanuman Chalisa, should attend the event,” she said.

    “I have accepted his challenge. I am participating in the event at a temple in Malleshwaram in Bengaluru. He should attend the programme,” the minister added.

    The people have observed childish and anti-Hindu statements of Randeep Singh Surjewala. He doesn’t know who is father and mother of Lord Hanuman and spoke incorrectly.

    He disputed the fact that Karnataka is the birthplace of Lord Hanuman. He questioned the development of Anjanadri Hills, regarded as the birth place by the BJP government. Where do you want to take these elections to? Shobha questioned.

    “Because Hindus are a tolerant lot, you have taken their religious sentiments for granted. Had you spoken on these lines about Islam, the entire state would have been in turmoil. What wrong has Bajrang Dal done? In which cooker blast has it been involved? You have included the proposal as per the wishes of SDPI,” Shobha claimed.

    “You have dragged Lord Hanuman to the elections. I will stand with Bajrang Dal firmly. With me, many others will join in reciting Hanuman chalisa at temples,” she asserted.

    On Bajrang Dal’s relationship with RSS, she claimed that RSS is the mother root and its political outfit is BJP. Bajrang Dal is another wing which will take care whenever the young generation is in crisis and sentiments are hurt, they take care of it. The student wing is ABVP and for Adivasis, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram is formed.

    As per sources, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal and Hindu organisations have extended their support to Hanuman Chalisa recital programme at temples condemning the proposal of Congress manifesto to ban Bajrang Dal.

    Minister for Revenue R. Ashoka stated that the protests are registered everywhere in Karnataka and people are supporting it. “I am also joining Hanuman Chalisa recital,” he said.

  • Sonia Gandhi will campaign in Karnataka on Saturday

    Sonia Gandhi will campaign in Karnataka on Saturday

    New Delhi (IANS) | Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has so far stayed away from campaigning in Karnataka due to health reasons, will address a public meeting in Hubli on Saturday. This will be his first public meeting in the poll-bound state.


    Meanwhile, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are campaigning aggressively in the southern state, which will vote on May 10. Sonia Gandhi had joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Mandya, Karnataka on October 6 last year and was walking with Rahul Gandhi.
    She is staying away from public events these days due to health reasons. The Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on March 2 this year following fever. He had got Kovid-19 in June last year.
    Earlier, BJP leader Basangouda Patil Yatnal targeted Sonia Gandhi. He called the Congress leader a poison girl and an agent of Pakistan and China. The Congress had condemned the BJP leader’s remarks.


    Elections to the 224-member assembly in Karnataka are scheduled for May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13. The ruling BJP is facing a tough fight from the Congress, which has sidelined the saffron party on several issues including corruption.
    The Congress on Tuesday released its manifesto and promised to repeal all unjust laws and other anti-people laws passed by the BJP government in the state within a year of coming to power. The Congress has launched Griha Jyoti (200 units of free electricity); Griha Lakshmi – Rs 2,000 per month to each female head of the household; and Anna Bhagya – each person from a BPL family has been promised 10 kg of food grains of their choice (among rice, ragi, jowar, bajra).


    It also promised to take strong and decisive action against individuals and organizations promoting hatred between communities on the basis of caste or religion. It said that if any organization like Bajrang Dal and PFI tried to spread hatred, it would ban them.

  • Congress wants to make Karnataka “number-1 ATM for shahi family,” says PM Modi

    Congress wants to make Karnataka “number-1 ATM for shahi family,” says PM Modi

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a stinging jibe at the Congress party and alleged that the grand old party wants to make the poll-bound state of Karnataka as “number-1 ATM” for serving “shahi family” sitting in the national capital.

    While addressing an election rally at Mudbidri in Dakshina Kannada district Karnataka, Modi said, “Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to make Karnataka the Number-1 State in each and every field of Development, whereas Congress wants to make Karnataka the Number-1 ATM for serving its ‘Shahi family’ in Delhi.” Hitting out at former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi’s statements about the country in UK, Modi said, “Today, the whole world is admiring the Development and Democracy in India. Reverse-Gear Congress is defaming our country the world over. ”

    Escalating his attack on the Congress party, Modi said, “The whole politics of Congress is based on divide and rule. The people of Karnataka have themselves seen this dreadful face of the Congress.”

    He added, “Wherever people want peace and progress in the country, they, first of all, oust the Congress from their state.” He alleged that Congress is intolerant towards the country’s progress and peace in society.

    He further alleged, “Congress aligns with the ‘Anti nationals’ and takes help from Anti India forces for the polls. They take back cases on the ‘Anti nationals’. They shield terror backers.”

    Slamming the acquittal of accused persons in the 2008 Jaipur serial blasts case, Modi said, ” In Rajasthan, Congress protected the accused involved in a bomb blast. All the accused got clean chit. Will you let Congress come to power in Karnataka, will you let them destroy your state.”

    Exhorting the young people to vote for BJP, Modi said, “Those who are going to vote for the first time in their life are going to decide the future of Karnataka.”

    “My sons and daughters who are going to vote for the first time, if you want to make your career, do the work of your mind, then it will not be possible with the Congress. If there is instability in Karnataka, your fortune will also remain unstable.,” he alleged.

    Karnataka will go to Assembly polls on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.