Bangalore: The Congress returned to power in Karnataka after seven years, defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by a huge margin. Securing a clear majority on its own in a triangular fight, the party is now set to form the government on its own in Karnataka. The BJP suffered a major blow and stood neck and neck with Janata Dal Secular as the second spot. The final tally of votes stood at Congress winning 121 seats, BJP and JDS winning 40 seats each and KJP winning 6 seats. Other parties and Independents won 16 seats.
Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa's Karnataka Janata Paksha could not make a mark and managed to win just a handful of seats. However, his absence from the BJP did hit the party hard leading to its massive defeat even though he won from Shikaripura by over 15,000 votes. The Bharatiya Janata Party has accepted the defeat and Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar is set to resign on Wednesday evening. "We accept people's mandate; will resign this evening," says Shettar.
Political observers noted that the Congress managed to sweep the urban votes including major seats in Bangalore, where corruption was a major issue. The party did very well north and central Karnataka while the BJP lost badly both in rural and urban areas. Coastal Karnataka, Mumbai-Karnataka, Hyderabad-Karnataka and Central Karnataka districts voted against the BJP in a big way.
Lingayats, the largest caste in the state, seem to have returned to Congress. At
03:07 PM, May 08, 2013
New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday got majority in Karnataka and ousted the BJP to form the government in the state after seven years. The BJP suffered a humiliating defeat in the Karnataka Assembly elections as Congress appeared to be well on its way to wresting power on its own. Hit by the exit of former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and the image of corruption during its tenure in the...
02:59 PM, May 08, 2013
New Delhi: Karnataka Janata Paksha chief BS Yeddyurappa, who in May 2008 was the toast of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after leading the party to power in Karnataka, is now seen as the man who single-handedly responsible for the massive rout the party suffered in the 2013 Assembly elections. Even though Yeddyurappa won from Shikaripura by over 15,000 votes, his party was doing well in only a few seats....
01:33 PM, May 08, 2013
Bidar (Karna): Upset over the mysterious death of their seer, three priests allegedly committed suicide by self-immolation inside a mutt complex in northern Karnataka on Monday, police said. The priests of Chouli Mutt - Jagannath Swami (21), Sharanayya Swami (18) and V Reddy Swami (50) - allegedly set fire to a place where firewood was stored in the mutt complex and jumped into the fire, they said. Fire brigade and...
11:13 AM, Apr 08, 2013
Bangalore: As many as 21 of the 118 BJP MLAs in the 225-member Karnataka Assembly came out in support of former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and attended a breakfast meeting at his residence on Sunday. Does that threaten the existence of the Jagadish Shettar-led BJP government in the state? Senior Journalist Arun Shimoga shared his perspective in an interaction with IBNLive readers. Q. Sir, if the government gets dissolved, and...
12:37 PM, Dec 11, 2012
Bangalore: Lingayat strongman and former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa on Sunday dared Jagadish Shettar drop his MP son BY Raghavendra after the saffron party sacked one of his loyalist and Cooperative Minister BJ Puttaswamy from the ministry and suspended Tumkur MP GS Basavaraj. Yeddyurappa, who is organising a mammoth rally in Lingayat dominated Haveri on Sunday to formally launch his party Karnataka Janata Party to prove his popularity hasn't...
09:22 AM, Dec 09, 2012
Above all, it's Bhookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa's ability to cry that's got most politicians worried. He's done it before, and they all know he can ...
06:17 PM, Oct 05, 2012
New Delhi/Bangalore: A group of 20 present and former Congress legislators from Karnataka is set to meet party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday to urge her to replace state unit president G. Parameshwara, a Dalit, with the 81-year-old veteran leader, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, a Lingayat. Caste considerations in party leadership are assuming strategic importance as assembly polls in the state are due in May 2013. There is speculation,...
03:10 PM, Sep 17, 2012
New Delhi: Karnataka is all set for its third Chief Minister in a year. After a BJP Core Group meet at 11.30 am on Saturday, it was reportedly decided that DV Sadananda Gowda will be replaced by BS Yeddyurappa loyalist and Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar as the Chief Minister. The BJP high command is expected to make the official announcement on Sunday, after, perhaps, Gowda's meet with party President Nitin...
07:14 AM, Jul 08, 2012
Mysore: The tussle for the chief ministership between the warring BJP factions spilled on to the streets, literally, with people burning effigies of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and MLA B Harish near Maddur on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. Activists of the Vokkaliga Sangha, Vishwa Vokkaligara Sangha and Kannada organisations and other outfits staged protests expressing outrage to attempts to unseat CM D V Sadananda Gowda. They disrupted traffic on...
10:43 AM, Jul 02, 2012
New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi visited the Tumkur region in Karnataka on Saturday apparently in a bid to woo the Lingayat community ahead of the 2013 bypolls in the state. Sonia attended the birthday celebrations of the highly respected Lingayat seer Shivakumara Swami at 'Siddaganga math', which is reportedly one of India's oldest. However, a woman protestor at the rally waved black flags at the leader and was immediately...
01:12 PM, Apr 28, 2012
Bangalore: The Congress is going all out to woo a powerful caste group in Karnataka that is generally perceived to be a strong supporter of the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) even as the latter dithers in setting its house in order. State Congress leaders are set for a major score as they have succeeded in roping in party president Sonia Gandhi to be present at a birthday function of...
12:33 PM, Apr 23, 2012
Hyderabad: David Warner scored a brilliant ton and was involved in a record second wicket stand for Delhi Daredevils (189 off 100) to smash the Deccan Chargers all over the park as Delhi chased down Deccan's total in 16.4 overs. Naman Ojha also found his form back as he smashed the first half-century of the season. Chasing 188-run target, Delhi got off to a worst possible start as they lost...
02:59 PM, May 21, 2008
Kolkata: Bengal selectors have retained the squad, which topped the East Zone leg to reach quarter-finals, for the all-India knock-out stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy beginning in Delhi from March 5-12. With the provision of a 15-member squad, the selectors made Arindam Ghosh stand-bye. Bengal, to be led by Sourav Ganguly, will face Madhya Pradesh in their last-eight match at Palam on March 6. The squad will leave for...
10:34 PM, Apr 29, 2008
