Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will not be contesting Kolar assembly constituency, according to the third list of 43 candidates released by the Congress on Saturday for next month’s Karnataka Assembly elections.

Siddaramaiah, who is already contesting from Varuna constituency, earlier represented by his son, was seeking to contest Kolar assembly seat as the second constituency, but, as per the list, the Congress has fielded Kothur G Manjunath from the Kolar seat.

According to the list ex-BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi has been fielded from the Athani assembly seat while former Governor Margaret Alva’s son Nivedit Alva will contest from the Kumta assembly seat.

Laxman Savadi resigned from the BJP after being denied a ticket in the upcoming elections, joined the Congress on Friday.

An influential Lingayat leader in Belagavi district, Savadi resigned from the Legislative Council and the BJP on Friday and hours later joined the grand old party.

Congress which is seeking wrest from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming May 10 Assembly polls, has so far fielded candidates in 209 seats, including 124 seats in the first list and another 42 seats in the second list, with seats for 15 more candidates yet to be announced.

In its second list of 41 candidates, the Congress had also marked a seat for Sarvodaya Karnataka Party as the regional outfit’s Darshan Puttannaiah will contest from the Melukote assembly constituency in the poll-bound state.

The Congress, which seeks to oust BJP from power in Karnataka, recently claimed that the saffron party is facing a “mass exodus” in the poll-bound state.

Speaking at a presser earlier this month, senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala had claimed having “authentic information” about the BJP being unable to choose its own candidates in the upcoming Karnataka elections due to a “mass exodus” taking place in the party.

Citing “authentic information”, Surjewala claimed that the BJP is not able to select candidates as the right-wing party’s ministers and MLAs are refusing to contest. He claimed that 10 BJP MLAs, MLCs, ex-MLAs and ex-MLCs, their boards and corporation chairmen have resigned in dozens and joined the Congress.

Karnataka goes to polls on May 10 and results for the 224-member Assembly will be announced on May 13.

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Saturday said he will stand with the Left front in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Talking to news agency ANI, Deve Gowda said he will stand with left parties in next year’s Lok Sabha polls as the Janata Dal (Secular) on Friday released its second list of candidates for the upcoming May 10 Karnataka Assembly elections.

As per the list, HP Swaroop will contest from Hassan constituency instead of Deve Gowda’s daughter-in-law Bhavani Revanna.

Deve Gowda also batted for the introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill, saying that it would be the “first best thing” after the opening of the new Parliament building.

In a tweet, the JD(S) chief said he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to consider reintroducing the Women’s Reservation Bill which Gowda had taken up in 1996, saying that it would be “the first best thing to do as we move into a new parliament building soon.”

Gowda said when the Election Commission announced polls in Karnataka and released the number of eligible women voters in the state, unsurprisingly the women formed 50 percent of the total electorate and such statistics are the same in other parts of India.

The former PM said the poll commission’s list made him revisit the idea of women’s reservation in legislative assemblies and Parliament and thus he urged PM Modi to consider passing the Women’s Reservation Bill before next year’s Lok Sabha elections with “suitable modifications to the draft presented in 1996 and 2008.

Gowda said granting women one-third reservation in the country’s legislature would be a landmark move in promoting gender justice and women’s empowerment, adding that it would be a symbolic gesture before the move into the new parliament building…. “Our mothers and daughter deserve better from us.”

The Vigilance Bureau of Punjab on Friday questioned former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh for seven hours in connection with a disproportionate assets matter.

The bureau which issued a lookout circular against the former CM appeared before the Vigilance Bureau’s Mohali office at 11:00 AM on Friday. The allegations against Channi are amassing of assets which appear disproportionate to his income present in the official book of records.

Channi slammed the Bhagwant Mann led AAP government in Punjab stating it as a political vendetta and while stepping out of the bureau office late on Friday evening  comparing Aam Aadmi Party to the Mughals, Channi said, they (referring to AAP) are worse than Mughals while torturing.

The Congress leader also complained that in Democracy this is not the way to build up a case against any person and challenged the government of Punjab to put in all efforts that they can to silent him.

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema responding to it said that the AAP government a started a campaign against corruption and said if Channi has nothing to hide, then he should have no problem in facing the Vigilance probe.

Before appearing at the VB office for questioning, Channi held a press conference in which he targeted the Mann government and said that he is ready to prepare all the torture and arrest that would be charged on him.

Channi slammed saying that he was summoned on public holiday and that too on the occasion of Baisakhi and Dr. Ambedkar Jayanti and that the offices were specially opened for questioning him, he cited the reason behind questioning is barring him from campaigning in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by polls that is due next month.

An interesting fact here is, on one end Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP Supremo and his former deputy Manish Sisodia are facing allegations by the CBI and ED, to which they are targeting center of playing vendetta politics and on the other hand Channi is being questioned under the AAP government in Punjab, who is terming it as vendetta politics.