Close fight between BJP, Congress in Karnataka; JD(S) to be kingmaker: Surveys

Agencies
April 24, 2018

New Delhi, Apr 24: The upcoming Karnataka Assembly election will result in a close contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, with no party enjoying the absolute majority, according to a Times Now and VotersMood Research opinion poll. Deve Gowda’s JD(S) is likely to emerge as the kingmaker.

A win in Karnataka, the first of three key states to vote this year ahead of a 2019 general election, would give Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party a foothold in the prosperous south and bolster his chances of a second term.

BJP could more than double its tally to 89 seats in the 224-seat assembly election but fall two seats short of the Congress tally.

Janata Dal (Secular), together with smaller ally the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), is likely to win 40 seats and emerge as the kingmaker in an assembly that needs 113 seats for a majority, the poll showed.

Another opinion poll conducted for the India Today news channel this month also predicted that both the Congress and BJP, on their own, would fall short of a majority.

The Janata Dal is confident of forming its own government with the BSP and would not support the BJP or Congress, its spokesman, Ramesh Babu, said.

He denied that the party had a "secret pact" with the BJP, as some Congress leaders in the state have suggested.

Top BJP and Congress leaders have campaigned extensively ahead of the election in the state.

Election results will be declared on May 15.

"Karnataka is significant for the BJP because it needs to outperform in the south and the east of the country to make up for expected losses in the north," said Amitabh Dubey, a political analyst with consultancy TS Lombard.

"In the general election they are unlikely to repeat the same result as the last time in states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat."

Karnataka is the only south Indian state that the Hindu-nationalist BJP has ruled for a full five-year term on its own, following a surprise victory in 2008.

Elsewhere, however, the BJP has been riding high on Modi's popularity, despite concerns about a lack of jobs. The party or its partners now rule 21 of India's 29 states, up from just seven when Modi took office in 2014.

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News Network
March 16,2024

Mangaluru: In the wake of complaints regarding middlemen menace, sleuths of Lokayukta on Friday, March 15, conducted a raid at the Mangaluru Urban Development Authority. 

The Lokayukta team found unaccounted money and several files, which were not disposed of for a long period.

Lokayukta SP CA Simon said that the Lokayukta has received complaints that middlemen have been interfering in the MUDA office, and files pertaining to the public are not being cleared on time.

A raid that commenced in the evening on March 13, lasted for 18 hours. During the raid, Lokayukta officials found cash in a bag in MUDA office, and also with officials and others. MUDA officials could not inform the source of money found in their office, the SP said.

Further, he said that many people gathered at the MUDA office during the Lokayukta raid, and have raised complaints about the harassment at the urban development authority. “We have gathered evidence for MUDA officials carrying out file disposal processes through brokers on phone calls. The investigation on the MUDA network will be continued,” he said.

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News Network
March 22,2024

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Bengaluru, Mar 22: An FIR has been registered against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya over a provocative hate post on social media, Election Commission officials said on Friday.

The move comes after a complaint filed by officials of the poll body and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) that the Bengaluru South MP, who is also the President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, had in a post apparently targeted a minority and spread enmity between two communities.

He also made a similar post on March 19 on X and YouTube which went viral. He has 1.3 million followers on X, thereby influencing the voters and disturbing the communal harmony between the communities, it further alleged.

Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered at Halasuru Gate police station on March 20 under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 295 A (Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act, the officials said.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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Hassan: Former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda has announced that his son, former Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will contest from state's Mandya parliamentary seat as NDA candidate.

Deve Gowda told reporters on Tuesday that the decision to field Kumaraswamy, who is also JD(S) state president, in Lok Sabha polls from the Mandya seat was taken amid mounting public demand. "People are demanding that Kumaraswamy should contest from Mandya. In the core committee meeting as well, all members suggested that he should contest from Mandya," Deve Gowda said.

The former Chief Minister's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy had lost to independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh from Mandya in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The JD(S) supremo further said that the name of senior leader Mallesh Babu has been finalised from the Kolar seat.

Deve Gowda's grandson and former Karnataka Minister H. D. Revanna's son sitting JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna will be contesting as the NDA candidate from the Hassan seat.

Earlier in the day, Kumaraswamy in a media briefing indicated that he would contest from Mandya amid mounting public pressure on him.

Congress has fielded Venkatarame Gowda popularly known as ‘Star Chandru’ from the Mandya seat dominated by Vokkaligas. Star Chandru is a close associate of Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar.

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