15:12 Siddaramaiah files nomination from Badami
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has filed his nomination from Badami, Karnataka for the Assembly polls. It was decided earlier that he would contest from Badami, besides Chamundeshwari.
April 24
16:24 BJP releases a second list of 82 candidates for Karnataka Assembly elections. There are no Muslims or Christians among the 82 candidates.
April 16
April 1320:25 That's all for today. We'll resume our continuous coverage of the Karnataka assembly elections tomorrow. Thank you!
17:39 Karnataka is heading towards a hung Assembly this year, an India Today-Karvy Insights opinion poll conducted just over a month before the high-stakes election in the state predicts. The biggest takeaway from the opinion poll is that no one party is expected to reach the magic number of 112 in Karnataka's 225-member Assembly. The Congress, currently in power, can hope to win between 90 and 101 seats while the BJP will win between 78 and 86 seats. Going by the opinion poll, HD Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular) may be the kingmaker in Karnataka, with the party and its pre-poll alliance member, Bahujan Samaj Party, winning between 34 and 43 seats.
16:56 BJP President Amit Shah spared no time in reacting on the reports that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah might shift his constituency for the May 12 Karnataka Assembly polls. The BJP chief who was in poll-bound state on Friday said this was the "first major lead" that the saffron party would win the election.
16:03 The Congress may finalise the first list of candidates for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly polls on Friday, said its state-unit president G Parameshwara in a PTI report. The party leaders had discussion over the names of candidates in the morning on the day and there is a possibility of releasing the names of contenders for about 136 constituencies out of 224 in the state by the evening.
15:25 Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has decided to contest from the two seats in the upcoming assembly elections. As per the media reports, the CM has decided to contest from the Badami assembly constituency in Bagalkot district of North Karnataka, as well as Chamundeshwari in Mysuru district of South Karnataka, reported The Times of India.
11:40 Meeting of the BJP central election committee over the upcoming Karnataka elections is scheduled to be held on 15th April at BJP headquarters in Delhi, as per news agency ANI.
10:10 BJP President Amit Shah will take out a road show in Gokak, Karnataka. He will also interact with students of Nehru Medical College and attend several other public programs on the day.
April 11
18:44 BJP President Amit Shah to sit on dharna in Hubballi on April 12
16:15 PM to address 10 rallies in Karnataka
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend close to 10 rallies in the coming two days. According to OneIndia, the BJP party wanted Modi to have stage time for atleast 15 rallies in the coming month.
14:51 Siddaramaiah in Delhi to finalise candidates
The Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah is in Delhi to lock-in the final candidates set to take part in the Assembly elections, according to OneIndia. The final list is set to be released on April 15. The list will be made with Rahul Gandhi part of the process.
13:40 Will former Congress stalwart SM Krishna come back? Rumour mills buzz ahead of Karnataka polls
What seems to be 'do-or-die' battle for the Congress for this year's polls has sparked rumours that former Congress leader SM Krishna would be returning to the Congress,according to a News18 report.
11:48 Congress set to release final list by April 15 The Congress looks to release the final list of its candidate for the Karantaka Assembly election by April 15, according to OneIndia. The Congress has finalised 130 names for the elections. The remaining are to be decided over a meet on Thurdsay.
11:45 What was the common destiny shared by SR Bommai, S Bangarappa, M Veerappa Moily, SM Krishna and HD Deve Gowda – all familiar names in Indian politics – that has turned into a political ‘curse’ over the last three decades?
Read the full story by Ramakrishna Upadhya here.
11:02 In Karnataka elections, Congress veteran Kharge faces dynasty problems of his own
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has for long remained an unassailable leader of Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) district in North Karnataka. But his attempts to promote his son Priyank at the cost of other long-serving party men threatens to erode his position and even derail his chief ministerial ambitions. Read the full story.
09:59 BJP's 2nd list of candidates likely on April 11: Yeddyurappa
The BJP's Karnataka unit chief B S Yeddyurappa today said the second list of party candidates for the May 12 assembly election in the state was likely to be announced on April 11.
The former chief minister also announced that he would file his nomination from Shikaripura in Shivamogga district on April 19.
"We have announced a list of 72 candidates last night, day-after-tomorrow another list of 65-70 candidates will be released. Later, in the days to come remaining candidates list will be announced," he told reporters here.
09:50 Hello! This live blog will track the latest developments from the southern, poll-bound state of Karnataka. The voting is scheduled to happen on April 12. The counting will happen on May 15.
Both, the ruling Congress party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have already begun intense campaigning in the state. The Presidents of both parties, Rahul Gandhi and Amit Shah respectively, have already completed multiple rounds of campaigning
Bengaluru’s voting population is being ridiculed by the entire Karnataka for the low voter turnout of less than 50 percent as compared to the state average of 71 percent. Is urban apathy the only reason for poor show or is there more to it than meets the eye?
While urbanites are usually accused of being lackadaisical, studies show that the turnout in Bengaluru is not actually low but appears to be so due to the bloated voters list. Much before the elections, Citizen Matters, an NGO, had predicted the city would record a poor turnout due to faulty electoral rolls.
Voting ends in all 222 seats in Karnataka. Repolling has been ordered in 2 booths. Multiple incidents of EVM malfunction and cash-for-votes have been reported.
Two opinion polls released on Monday predicted a hung Assembly in Karnataka for the upcoming state elections while also suggesting that Janata Dal (Secular) will play a crucial role in forming the next government, which will be a coalition one.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has filed his nomination from Badami, Karnataka for the Assembly polls. It was decided earlier that he would contest from Badami, besides Chamundeshwari.
BJP releases fourth list of 7 candidates for #KarnatakaElections2018 pic.twitter.com/awjRV68sVG
— ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2018
Talking about interlinking of rivers, Shah said projects have been initiated in UP, Maharashtra and Gujarat.“South Indian matters are before the courts now. Once elections are over, we will look into south Indian projects too.”
One person from the audience stood up and commented on the cash crunch, "today all ATMs say no cash no cash no cash..."
Amit Shah was quick to respond, "parso thak sabko cash milega (Everybody will get cash by day after tomorrow)... don't worry.", reported News18.
News18quotedAmit Shah saying, "In 2014, voters took a historic decision. Crores of people in this country did not have bank accounts. quoted Narendra Modi ensured they have bank accounts. People sitting here may not understand its value but those who did not have bank accounts, for them it is important. There were 10 crores family in this country who did not have toilets. No govt cared how these people lived. Narendra Modi provided toilets to these people in the last four years. Chidambaram mocked saying is making pakodas a job? Then even begging is? Let me tell you, it is. He is earning for his family. The respect that Modi is getting abroad is not for Modi, not for BJP. It is for the people of this country."
BJP president Amit Shah held a meeting with professionals and entrepreneurs in Bengaluru in which he boasted of the development done by PM Modi-led BJP government at the Centre and criticized Siddaramaiah for “stalling the state’s growth and engaging in corruption”, reports News18.
Pictures of Samaj Chintan Sabha in Bengaluru (Karnataka). pic.twitter.com/YHSVZUJZlF
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 19, 2018
Karnataka elections 2018: State govt not doing enough to curb sexual child abuse, says BJP MP
BJP MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar today accused the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka of not doing enough to curb sexual child abuse in the state, saying the number such cases increased by 10 times in the past five years.... Read More
Addressed the convention of Shakthi Kendra Pramukhs of 15 assembly constituencies in Devanahalli, Bengaluru (Karnataka). pic.twitter.com/sWuFXWcba6
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 19, 2018
Keeping in mind the summer heat during May, the Election Commission has extended polling time for the May Assembly elections till 6 pm in the evening. The timings earlier were from 7 am to 5 pm in the evening. The commission also said that introduction of VVPATmachines in the elections as a reason behind the extension.
PM Sri Narendra Modi spoke to British PM Theresa May about Basavanna's philosophy. He explained that Basavanna's ideas of egalitarian society & democratic traditions were far ahead of his time.
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) April 18, 2018
A big thank you to PM Modi from Karnataka, for taking our pride to the world. pic.twitter.com/XTT1oH7TMt
