Karnataka Election Highlights: Amit Shah to Hold Roadshow in Devanahalli Town on Friday

With about three weeks remaining for the Karnataka assembly polls, top politicians of the state submitted their nomination papers on April 19. Vijayendra, the son of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, submitted his nomination papers from the Shikaripura constituency. After submitting his first set of nominations on Saturday, which is an auspicious day according to the Hindu calendar, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai filed his second set of nominations in the Shiggaon constituency. Mohammad Yousuf Savanur of the Congress party is competing against the CM. Read More

Ahead of the Karnataka assembly polls, Election Commission officials are on their toes constantly to ensure that there is no violation of the code of conduct. The exchange of money and gifts between candidates and voters becomes a common nuisance during election time and the police as well as election officials are working to put a stop to it. The model code of conduct came into effect in Karnataka on March 29. The major goal of the Code is to prevent ruling parties at the national level and in the states from abusing their advantageous position to acquire an undue advantage. Read More

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a scathing attack on Congress for including its Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi’s name in the star campaigner list for the Karnataka Assembly election. BJP alleged that Pratapgarhi was a close aide of the late gangster Atiq Ahmed. Read More

Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah is arriving in Bengaluru on Friday on a two-day visit to take stock of the party’s preparations for the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka, his first visit to the state after announcement of poll schedule. He is slated to hold a roadshow in Devanahalli town, the birthplace of 18th century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan, in Bengaluru Rural district on Friday afternoon. Shah would hold a meeting here with senior party functionaries regarding poll preparations in the evening, BJP sources were quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi would campaign in about 20 places in poll-bound Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Thursday, adding that PM Modi’s campaign programme is being finalised. “There is all possibility of the Prime Minister campaigning in about 20 places. In most (of these) places, he will address rally-meeting and in some, there will be road-shows”, Bommai was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. Karnataka would vote on May 10, and the results will be declared on May 13.

In a surprise move, hours before the deadline for filing nomination for the Karnataka Assembly polls, Congress MP from Bangalore Rural DK Suresh on Thursday filed his papers from Kanakapura segment, from where his elder brother and state chief DK Shivakumar is the party’s candidate.

BY Vijayendra, the younger son of BS Yediyurappa, filed his nomination from Shikaripura on Wednesday, marking a generational shift in Karnataka politics, particularly in his hometown Shimoga. The constituency was held by Yediyurappa for 40 years, except 1999-2004. During 2014-18, his elder son BY Raghavendra was Shikaripura MLA when BSY went to New Delhi as an MP from Shimoga. BSY has contested from Shikaripura in every election, nine times since 1983. Read More

Lingayat leaders of the BJP have raised the pitch for unleashing the “Lingayat CM” campaign in poll-bound Karnataka to counter the Congress’ narrative to brand the ruling party as “anti-Lingayat”. The politically influential Lingayat community forms about 17 per cent of the State’s population, mostly in northern parts of the State which the BJP counts as its strong vote-base. READ MORE

BY Vijayendra, the younger son of BS Yediyurappa, filed his nomination from Shikaripura on Wednesday, marking a generational shift in Karnataka politics, particularly in his hometown Shimoga. The constituency was held by Yediyurappa for 40 years, except 1999-2004. During 2014-18, his elder son BY Raghavendra was Shikaripura MLA when BSY went to New Delhi as an MP from Shimoga. BSY has contested from Shikaripura in every election, nine times since 1983. READ MORE

A few weeks before the Karnataka Assembly elections, Income Tax officials raided many places in Bengaluru. On Wednesday morning, the residence of expelled Congress leader KGF Babu was raided by the IT Department. The officials inspected his home in Bengaluru at around 5:30 am. READ MORE

The office of the Sarvodaya Karnataka Party (SKP) may be the least prominent among other political party outposts here, but it definitely looked the busiest.

A couple of days before nominations were to close for candidates for the May 10 Assembly elections, Mandya, the heart of Karnataka’s agrarian belt looked like it was yet to catch the election fever. And yet the SKP office was buzzing with activities like laying out freshly printed posters and loading them onto trucks.

The face that stands out prominently, among the posters that are being loaded onto vans, was that of SKP’s lead candidate Darshan Puttanaiah. Son of the late prominent farmers leader K S Puttanaiah, Darshan is contesting from Melkote constituency in Mandya district. Congress is not fielding a candidate here in order to support Darshan and open the constituency up for a direct contest between the SKP and the JD(S) which is hoping to retain its seat.

Denied a ticket by the Congress party from the Chickpet constituency, KGF Babu quit the grand old party and decided to file his nomination as an independent candidate from the seat.

Babu was earlier suspended from Congress for his alleged statement against the party where he said that Congress will not win more than 40 seats.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi would campaign in about 20 places in poll-bound Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Thursday. He said the Prime Minister’s campaign programme is being finalised. READ MORE

AIADMK general secretary and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday announced that the party will contest the Karnataka Assembly polls.

However, the party had earlier announced that it would not be contesting the state Assembly polls and would support BJP candidates. READ MORE

“Laxman Savadi is being sidelined in BJP, they are sidelining leaders of major communities like Lingayats,” said Congress leader and former CM Siddaramaiah while talking to the media on Thursday.

When asked why Sachin Sachin pilot was not part of Congress’ star campaigner list for Karnataka Assembly Polls, the former CM said, “I don’t know about it, please ask the central leadership.”

Denied a ticket by the Congress party from the Chickpet constituency, KGF Babu has decided to file his nomination as an independent candidate from the seat.

Shafi Bellare, prime accused in the murder of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) leader Praveen Nettaru, has filed his nomination from the Puttur constituency for upcoming Assembly elections in Karnataka. Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), which is considered as the political arm of the outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI), has fielded Shafi Bellare from the Dakshina Kannada district’s seat. READ MORE

BJP has raised objection to Congress including its Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi’s name in the star campaigner list for the Karnataka Assembly election. BJP alleged that Pratapgarhi was close aide of late gangster Atiq Ahmed

“Imran Pratapgarhi called Atiq his guru, Congress is appointing such individuals with a criminal background to appease minorities,” said Union Minister and BJP leader Shobha Karandlage.

Karandlage further alleged that Pratapgarhi used to write Shayari to pit Hindus and Muslims against each other.

Days ahead of Karnataka Assembly polls, BJP MLC AH Vishwanath announced that he will join Congress today. After former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, Vishwanath is another prominent leader to ship from BJP to Congress ahead of polls.

“Today I am joining Congress. There are political reasons, due to which I am leaving BJP and joining Congress,”  Vishwanath told the media.

Election Commission is in the process of hiding party symbols ahead of the May 10 Karnataka Assembly Polls. However, officials may find it difficult to hide the symbol of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP).

As per election rules, any material or images representing the symbols of contesting parties in constituencies should be hidden after the model code of conduct comes into force and until the end of the election to avoid influencing the voters.

Election Commission is now faced with the challenge of hiding the AAP’s symbol– broom– from the public eye everywhere.

Earlier, during the Uttar Pradesh elections, all elephant effigies were covered with clothes because the elephant is the symbol of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).