Karnataka elections 2023 updates

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the disqualification of Janata Dal (Secular) MLA D C Gowrishankar Swamy from the Tumkur Rural constituency in Karnataka and allowed him to contest the upcoming Assembly polls in the southern state. The top court, however, said Swamy will not be entitled to cast his vote on the floor of the House or in any of the committees where he is nominated as a member. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and J K Maheshwari stayed a Karnataka High Court direction passed in its order dated March 30, in which it held: "The election of the returned candidate, D C Gowrishankara Swamy, a member of the legislative assembly, Tumkur Rural constituency, declared as per Form-21C dated May 15, 2018, is hereby declared void." The court admitted Swamy's appeal filed through advocate Balaji Srinivasan and argued by senior advocate K K Venugopal for hearing and said as an interim measure, "it is directed that: (i) the direction issued by the high court in para 154(a) of the impugned judgment dated March 30, 2023 shall remain stayed".

With just three days left for the deadline of filing nominations for the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka, the ruling BJP on Monday announced candidates for 10 more constituencies. The party has fielded state BJP General Secretary Mahesh Tenginkai from the Hubli-Dharwad Central Assembly segment, which was represented by former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who joined the Congress today upset that he was overlooked for the contest by the saffron party. In three seats, family members of party leaders have been given tickets. While former Minister and MLA Aravind Limbavali's wife Manjula Arvind Limbavali has got the ticket for the Mahadevapura Constituency, the party has fielded Katta Jagadish, son of former Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu from Hebbal. Koppal Lok Sabha member Karadi Sanganna's daughter in-law Manjula Amaresh has been made the candidate from Koppal Assembly segment. Karadi Sanganna himself was a ticket aspirant from the segment and had planned to quit from his Parliament membership as well as from the party over delay in the ticket announcement.

The Election Commission has ordered the transfer of 10 police personnel, including a deputy commissioner of police (DCP), for "stricter enforcement of poll code and smooth conduct" of the May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka, sources in the poll panel said on Monday. Those transferred included the DCP (North) Bengaluru, the ACP of Yeshwanthpur and Bengaluru, and four police inspectors -- one each from Raja Rajeshwari Nagar, Yeshwanthpur, Nandini Layout police station and Rajagopal Nagar police stations. Sources said the officers being transferred were posted at the behest of a state minister and it was felt that their removal will help in "stricter enforcement and smooth conduct" of the May 10 polls.  "Per se, there was no complaint. EC took the decision for better conduct of polls," a functionary said.

The BJP on Monday released its third list of 10 candidates for the Karnataka assembly polls and fielded its state general secretary Mahesh Tenginkai from Hubli-Dharwad Central, a seat held by veteran Jagadish Shettar who has joined the Congress after being denied ticket by the ruling party. The BJP dropped its seasoned leader Arvind Limbavali from Mahadevapura constituency but, in an apparent bid to placate him, has fielded his wife Manjula Aravind Limbavali. The BJP has so far named 222 candidates for the May 10 polls to the 224-member assembly. The last date for filing nominations is April 20.

Karnataka BJP leader and former minister KS Eshwarappa writes an open letter to #JagadishShettar after he quit the party and joined Congress.

"...Congress may have given you a ticket but you will not win on the ground of struggle. If Congress comes to power, they said, they will withdraw the Cow Slaughter Bill. Who will you support then?..."

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar is confident that his party will win over 150 seats in the assembly elections.

"On the 19th, I am going to file my nomination. All Congress leaders and followers will be there in the nomination," says Jagadish Shettar, former senior BJP leader who joined the Congress party today.  

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Monday said the exit of Jagadish Shettar from the BJP would have no adverse impact on the party's prospects in the forthcoming Assembly elections, and he was surprised by his decision to join the Congress. Shettar, a six time MLA and former Chief Minister, parted ways with the BJP after being denied ticket to contest from Hubli-Dharwad (Central), which he represented in the outgoing Assembly. Bommai dismissed Shettar's charge that he was not given respect in the BJP and there was a conspiracy behind the move to drop him. Shettar was treated with a lot of respect and the party had given him positions. "In his growth in the last 25 years, the BJP played a main role", the Chief Minister said.

Karnataka CM & BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai to file nomination for the Assembly election on April 19; actor Kichcha Sudeepa to campaign for the CM.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the ruling BJP and RSS of attacking democracy and spreading hatred and violence in the country. He also appealed to the people to support the Congress and ensure that the party wins at least 150 seats in the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka, and comes to power with a full majority. "Bidar is Basavanna's (12th century social reformer) 'karma bhoomi'. If someone first spoke about democracy and showed the path towards democracy it was Basavanna. It is sad that today across the country, people from RSS and BJP are attacking democracy," Gandhi said. Addressing a public meeting here, he alleged that BJP and RSS are attacking Basavanna's ideals of- equal partnership, equal opportunities, and that everyone should move ahead together.

The Congress on Monday took a swipe at the BJP over former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar crossing over to it ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections, claiming the ruling party is "falling like a house of cards". Shettar joined the Congress in Bengaluru in the presence of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala (Karnataka in-charge), KPCC president D K Shivakumar and Legislature Party leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah, among others.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday hit back at Rahul Gandhi on "40 per cent Commission sarkar" jibe at his government, saying the Congress leader is yet to respond to his "corruption chargesheet. " Bommai also dismissed Gandhi's claim on Sunday that his party would be voted to power in Karnataka. "Does he know any ground reality here (Karnataka)", he asked. The Chief Minister said he had sent a "charge-sheet" to Gandhi during his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' on the "scams" during the (previous) Congress government but he is yet to get a reply. "The 40 per cent commission chargesheet is on him (Rahul Gandhi).

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the ruling BJP and RSS of attacking democracy and spreading hatred and violence in the country. He also appealed to the people to support the Congress and ensure that the party wins at least 150 seats in the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka, and comes to power with a full majority. "Bidar is Basavanna's (12th century social reformer) 'karma bhoomi'. If someone first spoke about democracy and showed the path towards democracy it was Basavanna. It is sad that today across the country, people from RSS and BJP are attacking democracy," Gandhi said. Addressing a public meeting here, he alleged that BJP and RSS are attacking Basavanna's ideals of- equal partnership, equal opportunities, and that everyone should move ahead together. "They are spreading hatred and violence in Hindustan, and they are taking away money from poor and weaker section people and giving it to two or three rich people," he added.

"I don't know the agenda of BJP and JDS... I have created hundreds of leaders here... Jagadish Shettar, Laxman Savadi and others joined our party and many ministers and MLAs wanted to come but we did not have political space. We will cross 150 seats and I am very confident that we will form the government in the state," said Congress Karnataka president DK Shivakumar.

Chandrakanth Patil filed nomination as BJP's candidate from Gulbarga North Assembly Constituency. He was accompanied by BJP Karnataka Incharge Arun Singh and other leaders.

"...If we want to take OBC in the country forward and give them their rights, the first step would be for the Prime Minister to release data of the OBC census. PM will never do this as he doesn't want the welfare of OBC. Congress will do this as soon as we get the opportunity..," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said at a Karnataka poll rally.

"You know the BJP very well in Karnataka. I didn't coin the slogan of "40% Commission Govt", it was coined by you - the people of Karnataka. But before speaking on BJP, I want to tell you what Congress Govt will do in Karnataka, after winning the election," said Rahul Gandhi in Bhalki, Bidar

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar held a roadshow in Kanakpura ahead of filing the nomination.

"I welcome former CM Jagadish Shettar to our party. He is known as a decent politician in Karnataka. Though he's from RSS, he's a secular person. I worked with him as the opposition leader and he was the opposition leader when I was CM. He was an honest party worker in BJP and always stood with the party, not for personal gain," Congress leader Siddaramaiah said.

BJP leader Jagadish Shettar on Monday joined Congress at grand old party office in Bengaluru. He joined the Opposition party in Karnataka in the presence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and DK Shivakumar. 

Former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar reaches Congress office in Bengaluru. Jagadish Shettar is likely to join the Congress party after he resigned from BJP yesterday.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the BJP will form a government again in Karnataka, where Assembly elections are scheduled next month. Addressing a public meeting in south Goa where he kicked off the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Shah said the mood of people is in favour of BJP in Odisha and Telangana. He referred to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's remarks on BJP's victory in "small states" of Goa and Uttarakhand earlier and said Kharge shouldn't insult small states. Shah also said Congress was wiped out in recent polls in the Northeast after Rahul Gandhi campaigned for the party.

In the backdrop of the Nandini vs Amul battle, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday bought a Nandini ice cream and termed the brand "Karnataka's pride. " He also termed Nandini, the flagship brand of Karnataka Milk Federation, the "best. " The Congress leader's move came in the wake of the state party leaders throwing their weight behind the homegrown dairy brand, amidst fears of its takeover by Gujarat's Amul. On a two-day visit to the poll-bound Karnataka, Gandhi bought the ice cream at a Nandini store here while flanked by Congress state president D K Shivakumar and party general secretary K C Venugopal. Gandhi later posted his photo on Twitter with a caption, "Karnataka’s Pride - NANDINI is the best!"