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Karnataka state, the only state in the whole of South India boasting of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on its own is all set for general elections before May 2023 as the tenure of the present and 15th Assembly is scheduled to be over on 24 May 2023. The present predicament haunting the ruling party in the state and centre is whether it will be able to retain the lone bastion below the Vindhya mountainous range. No majority in elections so far: An interesting feature of the ruling BJP is that in all the 2004, 2008 and 2013 Assembly elections it never emerged as the single largest party to walk straightly into the corridors of power. It has always been under the mercy, whims and fancies of the regional outfit Janata Dal-Secular (JDS), dubbed locally as the Father and Children’s now Grandchildren’s party to grab power. Likewise, even in 2018 also BJP failed to make it on its own thus paving way for a Janata Dal-Secular party-led and Indian National Congress (INC) supported re

T he national high command of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has sprung a surprise by rewarding two ordinary workers with Rajya Sabha tickets neglecting hectic political lobbying by the political heavyweights and the like of them. Iranna Kadadi of Belagavi in Mumbai Karnataka region and Ashok Gasti of Raichur belonging to the backward Hyderabad Karnataka area, hitherto much unknown for power lobbying in party politics were taken aback when their names were announced this afternoon. Umesh Katti, former minister and eight times MLA had been in the forefront to ensure that his brother Ramesh Katti got the party ticket to contest the Rajya Sabha elections.When the whole world is embroiled into the Coronavirus pandemic he found the time conducive to play petty politics as he held a dinner meeting with some disgruntled ruling party legislators who also lost the race in entering the state cabinet just a few days back to register his anger for still not being inducted into the cabinet. H

Haradanahalli Doddegowda Devegowda , former Prime Minister's gameplan of somehow managing to get elected to the Rajya Sabha from the native state of Karnataka doesn't appear to a bed of roses all the way. As of now, it only looks like a daydream without the blessings of Congress president Sonia Gandhi or Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. image: Deccan Herald. HD Devegowda, a 24x7 politician can hardly withstand being out of power or party politics at any given point of his political career spanning 67 years. He recently celebrated his 87th birthday without much fanfare, thanks to the lockdown stipulations due to the Coronavirus pandemic. He shifted to the neighbouring Tumakuru Lok Sabha constituency during the previous Parliamentary elections in May 2019, when he decided to handover his home bastion of Hassan to his grandson Prajwal Revanna.However, he was defeated in Tumakuru. This was his third defeat after demitting the prim

T hanks to the outcome of bye-polls to 15 Assembly constituencies, it looks the voters of the state are unanimous in their verdict against the Indian National Congress(INC) and Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S): Keep Your Mouth Shut! The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) leaders' themselves were not sure till Yesterday that they would be able to garner a dozen seats to their tally. For public consumption all of them kept on reiterating like school children, "We will win all the 15 seats" in a voice which didn't appear to be all that confident. In fact they were perturbed by the initial reports of the state Intelligence agency which projected a result of 6:3:6 meaning six to BJP, three to JD-S and six to Congress. While Congress and JD-S leaders were toying with the idea of forming the second series of Congress-JD-S coalition government BJP managers were seriously setting up in motion "Operation Lotus 2" to poach seven Congress and three JD-S legislators. But people

T he public campaigning for bye-elections in 15 Assembly constituencies of Nine districts in the state came to a close this evening. However, the door to door canvassing and the last ditch efforts to win over the voters through all possible means will continue unabated for the 05 December polls. Thanks to the resignation of 14 Indian National Congress(INC) and three Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) Members of the Legislative Assembly the forthcoming bye-elections have been necessitated. KR Rameshkumar, Speaker during the tenure of JDS-INC coalition government had disqualified all the 17 MLAs' and had also barred them from contesting the elections till the end of tenure of the present Assembly. The Supreme Court after hearing the pleas of disqualified legislators upheld the ruling of the Speaker disqualifying them from the membership of the house but permitted them to re contest the elections. Since the defeated Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) candidates have contested the victorie

T he ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) looks to be poised for a comfortable win in a majority of the 15 state Assembly constituencies wherein bye-polls are scheduled on coming Thursday 05 December. However, Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bengaluru city and Maski constituency in Raichuru district are not included in this phase of bye-polls as the defeated BJP candidates have contested the victory of the then rival Congress candidates in both these constituencies during the May 2018 general elections. A lot of dust has been created among the BJP, INC and JD-S leaders who have been overbusy these days by washing linen in public during the electioneering campaign which is getting over in the next couple of days. Although the polling process is slated to be over on 05 December, the results will be known only on next Monday, 09 December when the Electronic Voting Machines(EVM's) will be unlocked for counting of votes. These bye-elections made inevitable due to the resignations of 14 Indi

B S Yediyurappa , Karnataka Chief Minister is once again under heavy pressure from the central party high command to win most of the 15 Assembly bye-elections slated to be held on 05 December. image source: PTI If you were to take cognisance of the situation on ground in most of these 15 Assembly constituencies then the victory path to the ruling saffron party is no way full of roses. On the other hand one can foresee any number of thorns patches all along! But the intriguing hazard that continues to remain for BS Yediyurappa is that the onus of winning the bye-elections is let solely on the shoulders of the only state mass leader just like the previous general elections. The ruling party insiders also have their own theories to put forth for such a predicament to the grand old man of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). They claim: He was given a free hand to engineer “Operation Lotus” to bring back the party to the treasury benches and now the challenge of ensuring the victory of these fen

T he forthcoming bye-elections to 15 Assembly constituencies in the state on 05 December are not just like any other bye-elections in nature but a forced one upon the people of the state to ensure that the saffron party romps back to power enabling B S Yediyurappa to become a Chief Minister for the fourth time.The two objectives of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) assuming power and the party's mass leader occupying the hot seat are being accomplished. But these crucial bye-elections have now turned out to be an acid test of political fate for multiple leaders including the incumbent chief minister and three other former chief ministers and an Ex Prime Minister as well. B S Yediyurappa soon after taking the oath of office and secrecy as CM for the fourth time heaved a sigh of relief for making his dream come true. However, the path later on continues to be a stumbling block for him at each and every step so far. He himself admitted during the 100 days in office celebration: Eve

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

T hanks to the announcement of the calendar of events for by-elections to the 15 Assembly constituencies in the state the street fight for bagging the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) tickets is also on a new high now! Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bengaluru Urban and Ranebennur in Haveri districts should have also gone for similar by-elections simultaneously as the MLAs' of these constituencies have tendered resignations to these seats.  The defeated Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) rivals have contested these elections, so the election commission has set aside the decision of holding elections in these two places. Elsewhere the battle by the erstwhile Indian National Congress(INC) and Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) legislators' for bagging the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) tickets is on. In some constituencies, there has been stiff opposition from defeated BJP candidates for parting away from the saffron party ticket to the new entrants.  Sharat Bachhegowda, son of

T hanks to Yesterday's announcement of bye-elections to the 15 out of the 17 Assembly constituencies in the state, all those former legislators who quit their memberships' to enable the saffron party to come to power are now literally on the crossroads! Their plea for quashing the state Assembly Speaker's ruling disqualifying them from their memberships and barring them to recontest before the end of the present Assembly's tenure till 2022 is pending before the apex court. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear their petition tomorrow after several adjournments. But the calendar of events for the bye-elections has been declared and as per the Speaker's ruling, they have no eligibility to contest the ensuing by-elections. 14 Indian National Congress(INC) and three Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) Members of Legislative Assembly who quit their positions have been undergoing a harrowing time ever since they resigned. All these legislators submitted their resignations