Karnataka election: Congress, BJP in talks with JD(S); top 10 developments

According to most of the post-poll surveys, the BJP is set to emerge as the single largest party in Karnataka, with the JD(S) likely to emerge as the kingmaker

  

With just one more day to go before the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 results, BJP president Amit Shah has asserted that his party will form the next government in the state, while the Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(s), has claimed that neither incumbent chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah nor BJP chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa will become chief minister of Karnataka. Siddaramaiah, for his part, has exuded confidence that the Congress will get an absolute majority in Karnataka and has ruled out any possibility of a tie-up with the JD(S).

Meanwhile, repolling on three polling booths -- one in north Bengaluru's Hebbal constituency and two in Kushtagi in Koppal district -- was scheduled to be held on Monday, according to the Election 

Commission (EC). The repolling was scheduled to be held from 7 am to 6 pm.

According to most of the post-poll surveys, the BJP is set to emerge as the single largest party in Karnataka, with the JD(S) likely to emerge as the kingmaker. As reported earlier, while most exit polls predicted a hung Assembly with the BJP ahead, two said the BJP would either come very close to or cross the halfway mark of 112 seats. However, the India Today-Axis exit poll said the Congress might bag a majority. No government in Karnataka since the Ramakrishna Hegde-led Janata Party in 1985 has been re-elected.

A single-day polling was held in Karnataka in 222 of the 224 Assembly segments on Saturday, with a record 72.13 per cent voter turnout. The results of the election will be declared tomorrow. The Congress had won 122 seats and the BJP 40 seats in the last Karnataka Assembly election in 2013.

Here are the top ten developments around the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 results:

1) Both BJP, Congress courting JD(S) despite denials: BJP and the Congress leaders, according to a previous Business Standard report, are in touch with the JD(S) leadership, and have proposed power-sharing scenarios that could be acceptable to party leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy. The BJP and the Congress, both, have ran coalition governments with the JD (S) 

between 2004 and 2008.

The Congress, for its part, is open to repeating the formula where the chief minister from either party serves for 2.5 years each, and also recognises that Kumaraswamy would never agree to sharing power with current chief minister and friend turned foe Siddaramaiah. The Congress is amenable to making home minister R Ramalinga Reddy its chief ministerial nominee if there is a hung Assembly.

The BJP, meanwhile, has proposed that it might be open to offering Kumaraswamy the first go at the chief ministerial chair.

2) Repolling in three booths today: Repolling on three polling booths -- one in north Bengaluru's Hebbal constituency and two in Kushtagi in Koppal district -- was scheduled be held on Monday, according to the EC. "Repolling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm as an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) malfunctioned at a polling booth in Hebbal on May 12, while at two booths in Kushtagi voters' names were wrongly listed," state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjiv Kumar told reporters.

The names nearly 275 voters were mixed up at the two polling stations in Kushtagi, about 400 km northwest of Bengaluru. As a result, voters cast their ballots at the wrong polling booth, Kumar said.

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Karnataka polls: SC blocks Janardhana Reddy's campaign in Ballari; updates

Days before the Karnataka Assembly election 2018, Prime Minister Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi are repeatedly crossing swords. Catch the Karnataka election campaign updates here

 

Karnataka Assembly election 2018 has seen vigorous campaigning by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi crossing swords over a plethora of issues, including corruption. While Modi said the Karnataka government was a "gold medallist" in corruption and that Congress leaders were "drunk on power", Gandhi hit right back accusing the BJP of corruption in Rafale fighter jet deal and protecting fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi. The BJP on Friday released its manifesto for the May 12 polls, promising a plethora of programmes and initiatives for the state's farmers.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also in the poll-bound state, where he took a swipe at the Siddaramaiah government, accusing it of carrying out divisive and corrupt politics. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hit back on Twitter, flaying Adityanath for being in his state for electioneering when 64 people had lost their lives due to a dust storm in Uttar Pradesh.

Further, after the BJP complained to the Election Commission (EC) over what it alleged was the Congress' attempt at playing the "communal card" in the poll-bound state to woo Muslim voters, the Congress on Thursday complained to the EC against the BJP's Karnataka unit for "getting published false and misleading advertisements" in newspapers to malign the public image of Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah.

Voting in the Karnataka Assembly polls will be held on May 12, 2018, in all 224 constituencies of the state Legislative Assembly. The counting of votes and announcement of results will take place on May 15, 2018.

Here are the top developments in the BJP and Congress' Karnataka Assembly election 2018 campaign:

1) SC bars BJP’s Janardhana Reddy from campaigning in Ballari: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed BJP leader G Janardhana Reddy's plea to be allowed to go to Ballari and campaign for his brother, who is a candidate in the Karnataka Assembly election, according to news agencies. The apex court said it did not find any merit in the plea.

2) BJP releases Karnataka polls manifesto: BJP chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday launched the party's manifesto for the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 in Bengaluru.

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Karnataka election: Yeddy-Reddy combo aim to loot, plunder, says Congress

Narendra Modi will continue campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 on Thursday. For updates on Karnataka polls read Business Standard

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake his third round of campaigning in poll-bound Karnataka on Thursday. The BJP has also lined up a galaxy of leaders, including Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, to address public meetings in the next few days, BJP sources said. Modi had launched his campaign blitzkrieg yesterday with a blistering attack on Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party. The Prime Minister's next round of campaigning would be at Tumakuru on May 5.

Modi resumed his campaign in the state after a long break yesterday--the last rally he addressed was in February-- as he sought to give a big push to BJP's efforts to return to power in the state for a second time unseating the Congress. The Prime Minister is slated to address another 12 rallies over the next few days before Karnataka goes to poll on May 12. Firebrand Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will campaign in Karnataka on May 3, 4 and 5 and hold 11 public meetings, party sources said. On May 3, he will address public meetings at Sirsi, Sagar, Balehonnur, Belur and Honnalli. He will address meetings at Haliyala, Muddebihal, Mudhol, Teradala the next day, the sources said. On May 5, he will address election rallies at Sedan and Balki. He will also visit Balehonnur Math. Union minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari will hold public meetings at K R Pete, Srirangapattana, Nippani and Belagavi on May 3.

On May 4, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani will address public meetings at Navalgund, Naragund, Kundagol, Guledagudda in Badami and Hubballi. Rajnath Singh will address election rallies at Alanda, Afzalpur, Chittapur and Chincholi the next day, the sources said. BJP's national spokesperson Sambit Patra has also been roped-in for the election battle. He will hold a press conference tomorrow, the sources added.

Meanwhile, former prime minister Deve Gowda poured cold water on Modi's hopes of pre-poll alliance. Gowda insisted there was no possibility of his party tying up with the BJP ahead of the high stakes Karnataka assembly election. Distancing himself from the PM's statement, Deve Gowda said, "a Kannadiga had become the PM. How Siddaramaiah tried to demolish the Kannadigas pride, taking that as a background, he (PM Modi) said this is how Congress gives respect to Kannadigas, this does not mean a 'gathbandhan' (alliance)"

Here are the top 10 developments around Karnataka Assembly election 2018 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign, Siddaramaiah and Deve Gowda's campaign.

1) 'Yeddy-Reddy' combo aim to 'loot', 'plunder': The Congress accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of getting B S Yeddyurappa's name "cleared" in corruption cases through the CBI and said the 'Yeddy-Reddy' combine was seeking to return to power to "loot" and "plunder" the state.

Congress leader Rajiv Shukla hit out at the BJP-led central government for "closing down" cases against Yeddyurappa, alleging that through its "puppet" CBI, the government was facilitating a clean chit for the BJP's chief ministerial candidate.

Shukla asked whether the prime minister and BJP President Amit Shah would explain "this sinister conspiracy to put a lid on 'loot of public money' and 'plundering of natural resources', as also the reason for giving 8 BJP tickets to 'Reddy Brothers and associates'?".

"The BJP has no moral right to talk about corruption as its chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa is facing all kinds of charges and whom the party had ousted a few years ago on corruption charges," he told reporters.

2) BJP accuses Congress of playing communal card: The BJP today accused the Congress of playing "communal card" in the poll-bound Karnataka to woo Muslim voters and claimed the state's chief electoral officer was not acting on its complaints, with a delegation of Union ministers moving the Election Commission demanding action against opposition leaders.

Union minister and former BJP president Nitin Gadkari led the delegation to the commission and told reporters later that they had provided "evidence" to back their charges against Congress leaders and state government officials to the election watchdog.

Gadkari alleged Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge in their campaign in a Muslim locality in the state sought the community's votes for their party in the name of Islam.

3) No BJP-JD(S) alliance: HD Deve Gowda today insisted there was no possibility of his party tying up with the BJP ahead of the high stakes Karnataka assembly election. Distancing himself from the PM's statement, Deve Gowda told ANI: "A Kannadiga had become the PM. How Siddaramaiah tried to demolish the Kannadigas pride, taking that as a background, he (PM Modi) said this is how Congress gives respect to Kannadigas, this does not mean a 'gathbandhan' (alliance)".

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