Will Cong get majority on its own?

May 7, 2013
Bangalore, May 7: With exit polls widely predicting a Congress victory in Karnataka Assembly elections, the burning question now is whether the party would gain majority on its own, as counting of votes is taken up tomorrow.

siddaramaiah
Some of these polls have put the Congress tally in the 224-member House at anywhere between 110 and 132, with the ruling BJP a distant loser; 113 seats would be required for majority.

Now, the recurrent question being asked is if there will be a situation where the Congress falls short of numbers. Some leaders of Karnataka Janatha Paksha (KJP) of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa have said in private that the party is ready to support a Congress government,if it comes to that.

But it's not clear if the Congress would accept KJP support, particularly as it had gone hammer and tongs against Yeddyurappa when he was the Chief Minister and faced corruption charges. The Congress is hoping that it would not have to depend on others to form government.

Prima facie, it appears that Yeddyurappa may have accomplished his task to decimate the BJP, by chipping away a few percentage of votes. In the last elections, the BJP had secured nearly one per cent votes less than Congress but still managed to bag 30 seats more than it. KJP's stance post the election-results is keenly watched as it's predicted to bag about only two dozen seats, at the most.

There are nearly 3,000 candidates in the fray. Close to 52,000 booths are in place, including about 10,000 hypersensitive and more than 14,000 sensitive ones where the authorities would keep a special vigil with the help of web cameras.

More than 4.36 crore people are eligible to exercise their franchise. There are about 35.59 lakh new voters (18-22 age category).

As many as 65,000 electronic voting machines, which include about 10 per cent kept as reserve, are ready to be pressed into service. More than 2.5 lakh poling officers would be on duty.

In the 2008 elections, BJP secured 110 seats, three short of majority, and went on to form the government with the help of five independents who were made Ministers. The Congress bagged 80 seats and the JDS 28.

The BJP secured 33.86 per cent, compared to the Congress' 34.59 per cent and JDS 19.13 per cent in 2008 polls.

While the overall voter turnout was 64.91 per cent in the 2008 elections, the average in the 28 segments of Bangalore was a low 47.3 per cent. The lowest in Bangalore was in Sarvajnanagar at 35.40 per cent.

The Election Commission and a number of NGOs carried out vigorous campaigns in recent days to boost the voter turnout.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
December 19,2025

Mangaluru: The Mangaluru CEN police have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly posting provocative and misleading content on an Instagram page named “mr_a_titude”, targeting the Bajpe police.

Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Sudheer Kumar Reddy C H identified the arrested as Abhishek M, a resident of Katipalla in Mangaluru.

A case has been registered at the Bajpe Police Station under Sections 353(1)(c), 353(2), 56, and 57 read with Section 189 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in connection with the post.

According to police, the accused uploaded a photograph of a hotel on the Instagram page and alleged that accused persons in a murder case under the Bajpe police jurisdiction were being given “royal treatment” by the police, including being served beef meals daily from the hotel.

The post further accused the police of supporting criminals, misusing their authority, and betraying public trust. Police said the content was provocative in nature and aimed at inciting public outrage against the police.

Following the post, a case was registered at the Bajpe police station, and further investigation was transferred to the CEN police station.

Police records indicate that the accused has a criminal history, with multiple cases registered against him, including murder, attempt to murder, assault, and robbery at the Surathkal Police Station, and one case at the Kaup Police Station.

The Commissioner said the accused was traced and arrested using technical evidence.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
December 15,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 15: Educational institutions in Mangaluru that rely on the popular Mangala Stadium for their annual sports events are bracing for an inconvenience as the city's key sporting venue is set to close its gates for a significant upgrade. The stadium is expected to be unavailable for approximately two months starting from January 15, 2026.

The closure is necessitated by a proposed overhaul of the stadium's facilities, with a special focus on upgrading the synthetic track. Pradeep Dsouza, Assistant Director of the District of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES), Dakshina Kannada, confirmed the development.

"Experts have visited the stadium, conducted a thorough inspection, and have given the go-ahead for a complete makeover," Dsouza stated. "Funds have been allocated for the project, and we are currently awaiting the final green signal from state officials to commence the work. We anticipate that the work will likely begin in the second week of January. Consequently, we have stopped renting out the stadium to colleges and other organizations in preparation for the upgrade."

The timing presents a logistical challenge for colleges, as many schools have already concluded their sports meets.

"Colleges will now be organizing their events and will need to find alternative locations to host their sports meets," Dsouza added. He suggested a few potential venues, including the Dakshina Kannada police ground, University College grounds, Panambur grounds, Swaraj Maidan in Moodbidri, and the Mangalore University sports grounds in Konaje.

However, many institutions note that finding a comparable venue will be difficult. While the DK police ground and University College grounds are closer to the city center, they do not possess the extensive facilities and infrastructure offered by Mangala Stadium.

Dr. P Dayananda Pai - P Satisha Govt First Grade College, Carstreet, is one such institution dependent on the stadium. Principal Jayakar Bhandary expressed hope for a swift completion of the work. "We expect the work to be completed at the earliest. If not, we will be forced to look for other venues to host the sports day for our students," Bhandary said, highlighting the pressing need for the city's main sporting facility.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.