The Election Commission will announce the polling schedule for 224-member Karnataka assembly today. The last state elections were held in the first week of May in 2008.
Resurgent Siddaramaiah pinches BS Yeddyurappa, BJP through smart online avatar
Siddaramaiah did not let go of this momentary lapse to score brownie points. His Twitter handle put out the video, with the line "The #ShahofLies finally speaks truth" cleverly editing the bit where Shah corrects his mistake.
This is the new reinvented avatar of Siddaramaiah. In IT city Bengaluru lingo, his 2.0 version. Though it is obvious that a 24x7 hands on the keypad backend team is operating the chief minister's account, it has succeeded in giving Siddaramaiah a much-needed makeover. Always good at working the crowds, Siddaramaiah in his new avatar, is more pugnacious and using his new playground of social media space rather well. Read more here.
Congress stormed to power in 2013 with 122 seats
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly comprises two Houses, a Lower House, and an Upper House. The Lower House is the Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) and the Upper House is called the Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad). The Assembly is bicameral with 224 seats.
The Karnataka Assembly elections in 2013 had witnessed the Congress storming to power with 122 seats after seven years, landing a huge blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which suffered a loss at the hands of a fractious split and corruption charges.
Here's the full poll schedule as announced by Election Commission
Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat announced the poll schedule while addressing the media on Tuesday afternoon.
Karnataka is one of only three states to be ruled by the Congress, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), fresh from victory in Tripura last month, has been targeting the South Indian state aggressively. Karnataka has traditionally voted anti-incumbency, and if the Congress government of Siddaramaiah does manage to win, it would be the first time in nearly two decades that a party has bucked anti-incumbency to retain power.
Here are the key dates as part of the Assembly election schedule:
Issue of notification: 17 April, 2018
Last date of nominations: 24 April, 2018
Date of scrutiny: 25 April, 2018
Last date of withdrawal of candidates: 27 April, 2018
Date of polling: 12 May, 2018
Date of counting of votes: 15 May, 2018
Karnataka to vote on 12 May, counting of votes on 15 May: All you need to know about these elections
With the announcement of the dates for the Karnataka Assembly elections by the Election Commission, the political battle for power in the state is set to intensify. The state elections are crucial for the Congress following election defeats in the North East. The tenure of the 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly expires on 28 May and the new House has to be constituted before that.
"You stood by my grandmother during her toughest days: Rahul in Karnataka
Apart from continuing his temple visits, Rahul held two mega rallies, one in Indira Gandhi's old constituency Chikmagalur, and another in Hassan. In a hard hitting attack on the BJP, Rahul accused it of spreading violence, forming governments using money and dividing the country for the sake of power. He also lashed out at Modi, charging him with "insulting" the common man by claiming credit for the country's progress.
Rahul had invoked his grandmother Indira Gandhi as he sought people's blessings for his party's victory in the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections. "You stood by my grandmother during her toughest days (1977-79) and helped her achieve a historic win in the Lok Sabha by-election from here in 1978," said Gandhi at a public rally in the coffee-growing district.
After Rahul, Amit Shah embarks on temple tour in Karnataka
After Congress president Rahul Gandhi's whirlwind tour of temples in Malnad, coastal and south Karnataka, BJP president Amit Shah is on a tour to south central Karnataka. Keeping Siddaramaiah government's decision to accord separate religion tag to Lingayats in mind, Shah has carefully planned his tour. During his trip on Monday and Tuesday, he will cover four important Lingayat mutts in the state.
On Monday, the BJP chief said that the Congress government's move to give separate religious minority status to Lingayats and Veerashaiva Lingayats was aimed at preventing BS Yeddyurappa from becoming the chief minister in Karnataka. Yeddyurappa is considered a Lingayat strongman.
Amit Shah's two-day Karnataka tour
BJP president Amit Shah will be touring Karnataka for two days starting Monday during which he will visit mutts associated with the Lingayat and Dalit communities.
Besides visiting a number of mutts associated with various communities, including Lingayats and Dalits, Shah will also address farmers' and traders' meetings, take out a road show and attend party events in the poll-bound state, a BJP statement said.
Election Commission's probe committee to submit report in seven days
The Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday evening that it has set up a panel to investigate the leak of Karnataka election dates. The committee will submit its report in seven days and due action will be taken against those found guilty after that.
ECI sets up probe panel to investigate poll date leak issue
#BREAKING -- ECI has set up a committee to look into the #PollDateLeak issue. #BattleForKarnataka pic.twitter.com/c6lDU2sjmI
— News18 (@CNNnews18) March 27, 2018
Resurgent Siddaramaiah pinches BS Yeddyurappa, BJP through smart online avatar
Siddaramaiah did not let go of this momentary lapse to score brownie points. His Twitter handle put out the video, with the line "The #ShahofLies finally speaks truth" cleverly editing the bit where Shah corrects his mistake.
This is the new reinvented avatar of Siddaramaiah. In IT city Bengaluru lingo, his 2.0 version. Though it is obvious that a 24x7 hands on the keypad backend team is operating the chief minister's account, it has succeeded in giving Siddaramaiah a much-needed makeover. Always good at working the crowds, Siddaramaiah in his new avatar, is more pugnacious and using his new playground of social media space rather well. Read more here.
Siddaramaiah govt is the most corrupt govt and its days are now numbered: Amit Shah
Since Siddaramaiah govt came in power, more than 20 karyakartas of BJP and Sangh have been killed. The people of Karnataka know that the Siddaramaiah govt is the most corrupt govt and its days are now numbered: Shri @AmitShah, Shivamogga, Karnataka pic.twitter.com/yENianwn3z
— BJP (@BJP4India) March 27, 2018
Congress doesn't expect "too much" of electoral gain on Lingayat issue, says Karnataka PCC chief
Karnataka BJP calls Rahul Gandhi silly for wanting to base his campaign on a mistake
Oye Rahul,
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) March 27, 2018
You prove your silliness by wanting to base your campaign on a slip of tongue! Btw, unlike you we have no secrets, we believe in complete transparency
Visit https://t.co/AFMqCAosTZ to know our star campaigner, gifted to us by India's most corrupt dynasty
Cheers! https://t.co/YLi32Lcote
Twitter war erupts after Rahul Gandhi mocks Amit Shah for slip of tongu
The BJP's Karnataka unit has taken to twitter to slam Rahul Gandhi for latching on to the mistake made by Amit Shah. The party tweeted a compilation video of all the times Siddaramaiah has misspoken in the past. They put out another video of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi as well.
Siddaramaiah is the undisputed king of slip of tongue moments. What else to expect from someone who is always half asleep.
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) March 27, 2018
Here is a compilation of his most honest confessions! pic.twitter.com/8zWC6o1602
EC to use VVPATs at all electronic voting machines in Karnataka
Looking at the controversy that surrounded the veracity of EVMs in the past, the Election Commission of India announced that all electronic voting machines will be equipped with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines.
Karnataka Assembly Election dates announced latest updates: The Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday evening that it has set up a panel to investigate the leak of Karnataka election dates. The committee will submit its report in seven days and due action will be taken against those found guilty after that.
A massive twitter was has erupted after Rahul Gandhi mocked Amit Shah after he mistakenly called BS Yeddyurappa corrupt. BJP's Karnataka unit's twitter handle put out tweets addressed to Rahul Gandhi calling him silly for wanting to base his party's campaign on a mistake. ECI has set up a committee to look into the poll date leak issue.
BJP national IT cell chief Amit Malviya wrote to the election commission clarifying his tweet before the poll dates were announced. He said that that his party did not have any special access to election commission sources and he merely saw it on TV before taking to twitter. He also said that a Congress functionary also got the dates at the same time.
Rahul Gandhi took to twitter to mock Amit Shah after he mistakenly called Yeddyurappa corrupt, while he in fact meant to come down on Siddaramaiah. The Congress president also wittily managed to compress a comeback at the saffron party's IT cell chief Amit Malviya in the same tweet.
BJP leaders will meet the Election Commission at 2.30 pm after a controversy broke out over Amit Malviya's tweet, who tweeted out the dates of election and counting before the poll panel could announce them.
The Election Commission on Tuesday announced that voting to elect a new Karnataka Assembly will be held on 12 May and results will be declared on 15 May, setting the ball rolling for one of the most prestigious battles between the Congress and the BJP.
"It will be a single phase election," Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat told reporters here. He said the date of notification is April 17 and the last date to file nominations is 24 April. The scrutiny of nominations will take place on 25 April and the last day for withdrawal is 27 April. He said the model code of conduct came into effect immediately in the state which will also be applicable to the central government. The polling will take place on 12 May and counting will be held three days later on 15 May, he said.
Rawat said VVPAT machines, apart from EVMs, will be deployed in Karnataka for the polls. The 224-member Assembly expires on 28 May in the state where the Congress is currently in power, with 122 seats against the BJP's 43. Karnataka is one of the eight states where polls were scheduled this year. Elections to three northeastern states were held last month.
Here are the important dates for Karnataka elections:
17 April, 2018: Issue of notification
24 April, 2018: Last date of nomination
25 April, 2018: Date of scrutiny
27 April, 2018: Last date of withdrawal of candidates
12 May, 2018: Date of Polling
15 May, 2018: Counting of votes
Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat was addressing the media in New Delhi and said that the model code of conduct will come into effect immediately after the dates are announced. The elections are expected to be single phase. The elections are politically crucial for the Congress government led by Siddaramaiah as well as the BJP as it is the only big state where the Grand Old Party is in power after losing a string of assembly polls to the saffron party in the last few years.
The high-octane political campaigns which have been ongoing for past couple of months witnessed both the Congress and the BJP slugging it out alleging each other of communal politics. The tenure of the 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly expires on 28 May and the new House has to be constituted before that.
The last state elections were held in the first week of May in 2008. The elections are being seen politically crucial for the ruling Congress as well as the BJP as it is the only big state where the former is in power after losing a string of assembly elections to the saffron party in the last few years.
File image of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa. Getty Images and PTI
The BJP is making a concerted bid to unseat the Congress. Beside, the Congress and the BJP, the JD(S) led by former prime minister H D Deve Gowda is the third player in the fray. The high-octane political campaigns which have been ongoing for past couple of months witnessed both the Congress and the BJP slugging it out alleging each other of communal politics. The tenure of the 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly expires on 28 May and the new House has to be constituted before that.
Incumbent Siddaramaiah-led Congress government is eyeing a second term in the state. The BJP, which is currently in power in 20 states, is trying to add a 21st state to the list. A win in Karnataka would be a massive boost for the BJP as the saffron party has been eyeing South India for a while now.The Congress government's decision, political observers have said, is aimed at denting the vote bank of the BJP, which has declared BS Yeddyurappa its chief ministerial candidate. Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) is the third party in the fray.
Rajagopal Reddy had submitted his resignation to the Legislative Assembly Speaker on 8 August who accepted it and notified the vacancy.
As Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar ended the alliance with BJP, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday termed the move as a "good start" towards taking a stand against BJP by political parties and people
The Karnataka Congress unit is divided with one half demanding that Siddaramaiah be made chief minister again and the others lending their support to DK Shivakumar. Amid the power tussle between the two leaders, a new name has emerged — SR Patil. So, who will it be for the Grand Old Party?
