congress in karnataka

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Congress in-charge for the state Randeep Singh Surjewala on Tuesday held a joint press conference from Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters, sharply criticising the Centre over rising prices of essential commodities and alleged rollback of welfare benefits.

Congress has announced Samarth Mallikarjun and Umesh Meti as its candidates for the Davangere South and Bagalkot by-elections, respectively. The party stated it followed the tradition of awarding tickets to family members of late legislators. Shivakumar expressed confidence in retaining both seats.

In a huge setback, the ruling congress in karnataka has lost the BBMP polls to the BJP, which has performed a hat-trick by retaining the 198-member corporation.

Congress believes Karnataka elections may determine the mood for 2014 with its potential to stall the BJP’s run of victories and give a verdict on Narendra Modi’s appeal as a mascot.

The minister said after not fulfilling the promise of transferring Rs 8,500/month to a woman of each family, Congress-governed Karnataka had saddled people with the burden of paying Rs 3/litre more for petrol and diesel. Minister Puri said with this increase, petrol in Karnataka was now Rs 8.2/litre more expensive than BJP-run govts in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

There are three likely results to the Karnataka contest. A BJP win or near-win, a surprise win for Congress and a hung House.

In the first move to rebuild congress in karnataka following its dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls and to counter the simmering dissent, the high command on Wednesday dissolved the state unit, retaining only president Dinesh Gundurao and working chief Eshwar Khandre.

Former chief minister Siddaramaiah asked the party activists to ensure victory for the Congress party in 14 assembly segments in the twin districts of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar, during the next elections.

BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that the Congress party in Karnataka has become a victim of dual leadership.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah closed the year by posting a massive victory for his party in the legislative council polls results on Wednesday, with the Congress winning 12 seats, leaving the BJP far behind with 5, JD(S) and Independents one seat each in the 19 of the total 25 seats from the local authorities constituencies' declared so far.

Congress troubleshooter DK Shivakumar, who was relegated to the sidelines of Karnataka politics after he spent 50 days in Tihar Jail last year in connection with a money-laundering case, returned to the political centrestage on Wednesday as he was named president of the state Congress unit.

Gearing up to face assembly elections due next year, the Congress on Sunday alleged that the innocent educated youth belonging to Muslim religion were being targeted and are being arrested on wrong charges.

"The vote of confidence won by the Yeddyurappa government is a vitiated and a subverted vote," party spokesperson Manish Tiwari told reporters.

The congress in karnataka on Monday urged the state government to immediately take necessary action to arrange for trains to bring back people from Karnataka stranded in other states. As a step in this direction, the party was ready to bear the monetary costs to be paid to the Railways, it said.

Early trends in the Karnataka bypolls showed the ruling parties maintaining leads in their respective constituencies. The Congress party led in Sandur, the BJP in Shiggaon, and the JD(S) in Channapatna. These bypolls were necessitated by the election of the incumbent MLAs to the Lok Sabha in May.

CM Nitish Kumar and RJD national president Lalu Prasad, along with deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh are likely to go together to attend the Opposition unity meeting being convened by congress in karnataka's Bengaluru on July 17-18.

SAGY is set to turn into a weapon in the hands of the congress in karnataka, which is going for panchayat polls later this month.

In its first move to "rebuild" congress in karnataka following its dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls and to counter simmering dissent, the party high command on Wednesday dissolved the state unit. Only state chief Dinesh Gundurao and working president Eshwar Khandre managed to survive the pink-slipping.

The state BJP unit is silently worried after clear indication that former BRS MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and ex-minister Jupally Krishna Rao are going to join the Congress.

In Karnataka, early counting trends show the Congress improving its tally while the BJP loses ground. The BJP leads in 17 seats, Congress in eight, and JD(S) in three. The JD(S), now part of the NDA, is leading in Mandya, Hassan, and Kolar. Key figures like Prajwal Revanna (JD(S)) and Radhakrishna Doddamani (Congress) are ahead, while BJP Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and Shobha Karandlaje also maintain leads.