NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday virtually conceded defeat in Karnataka assembly polls, saying getting an absolute majority was not absolutely possible because of the three-way split in votes.
Union Minister and AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Prithviraj Chavan said the party may not be able to reach the half-way mark.
The reason, he said, was that with the JD(S) doing well in a limited way, secular votes were divided and that affected the Congress.
Asked whether it was possible for the party to align with the JD(S), he said these decisions would be taken at the level of the Congress Working Committee and the party high command.
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Showing posts with label JDS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JDS. Show all posts
Monday, May 26, 2008
K'taka jolt puts Cong on a slippery electoral road
After the saffron surge in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, now the BJP's successful foray in Karnataka has rung the alarm bells for the Congress ahead of a series of elections before the next Lok Sabha polls.
The Grand Old Party is on a slippery electoral road in the last one year and the defeat in Bangalore is a jolt ahead of the Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi in the next few months.
Congress leaders are now admitting that a variety of factors did them in Karnataka which includes the issue of price rise, terrorism as also the failure to get their act together.
A senior leader, who did not want to be quoted, said that the state Congress failed to project a united face and the party as a whole was not ready for an election in May. They expected that the elections would be held in October because of delimitation.
Another leader's assertion only recently that if there is an undercurrent of sympathy, BJP will win around 110 seats in the 224-member House proved almost prophetic.
Congress also repeated its mistakes of Gujarat where its tactics of relying on the rebels of BJP had proved counterproductive. In Karnataka, the reliance on JD-S rebels as also repeating most of the Congress MLAs did not find favour with the voters.
The failure to project a chief ministerial candidate also went against the Congress. There was a sizable section in the party at the Central level, which wanted such projection of a CM candidate, but the idea was given up due to too many claimants.
In the Congress, there were too many senior leaders desirous of the top job and S M Krishna's return to active politics after quitting his gubernatorial post in Maharashtra probably made the race bitter internally.
All senior state leaders tried to grab as many seats as possible for their supporters and basically concentrated on those seats only, party insiders said.
In Gujarat too, the party had not projected a CM candidate and Narendra Modi had exploited it to project that he was pitted against Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
The Karnataka outcome may present the BJP an issue on its platter ahead of the assembly elections in the states ruled by the saffron party like in Rajasthan, in an attempt to neutralise anti-incumbency.
The shock from Bangalore has come at a time when the UPA coalition at the Centre entered the election year amidst growing concerns over rising prices and a bleak future for the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Source:Express India
The Grand Old Party is on a slippery electoral road in the last one year and the defeat in Bangalore is a jolt ahead of the Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi in the next few months.
Congress leaders are now admitting that a variety of factors did them in Karnataka which includes the issue of price rise, terrorism as also the failure to get their act together.
A senior leader, who did not want to be quoted, said that the state Congress failed to project a united face and the party as a whole was not ready for an election in May. They expected that the elections would be held in October because of delimitation.
Another leader's assertion only recently that if there is an undercurrent of sympathy, BJP will win around 110 seats in the 224-member House proved almost prophetic.
Congress also repeated its mistakes of Gujarat where its tactics of relying on the rebels of BJP had proved counterproductive. In Karnataka, the reliance on JD-S rebels as also repeating most of the Congress MLAs did not find favour with the voters.
The failure to project a chief ministerial candidate also went against the Congress. There was a sizable section in the party at the Central level, which wanted such projection of a CM candidate, but the idea was given up due to too many claimants.
In the Congress, there were too many senior leaders desirous of the top job and S M Krishna's return to active politics after quitting his gubernatorial post in Maharashtra probably made the race bitter internally.
All senior state leaders tried to grab as many seats as possible for their supporters and basically concentrated on those seats only, party insiders said.
In Gujarat too, the party had not projected a CM candidate and Narendra Modi had exploited it to project that he was pitted against Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
The Karnataka outcome may present the BJP an issue on its platter ahead of the assembly elections in the states ruled by the saffron party like in Rajasthan, in an attempt to neutralise anti-incumbency.
The shock from Bangalore has come at a time when the UPA coalition at the Centre entered the election year amidst growing concerns over rising prices and a bleak future for the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Source:Express India
Sunday, May 11, 2008
49 Candidates with Criminal Record in Fray in II Phase
BANGALORE: The second phase of Assembly Elections in Karnataka on May 16 will witness 49 candidates with criminal records contesting across 66 Assembly segments.
The BJP leads the list with 13 candidates, followed by the Congress -9, JD(S) -8, BSP -7 and others -12. Of these, six have been charged with murder or attempt to murder, with the BJP accounting for three and the JD(S), BSP and JD(U), one each.
The Karnataka Election Watch Committee, based on a study of the affidavits submitted by candidates during filing of nominations, revealed these findings on Sunday.
Releasing the report, Trilochan Sastry of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, said that the longterm strategy of the Committee is to pressure political parties to field clean candidates.
Crorepatis in the fray
The financial assets of candidates in general, has also seen a tremendous increase. Five candidates, two from the BJP and three from the Congress, have declared assets of over Rs 30 crore, coming under the ‘Very High’ category.
Bellary City constituency candidate Anil H Lad tops the list with assets worth Rs 172.72 crore, followed by Haliyal candidate R V Deshpande with Rs 116.29 crore. The list is rounded off with Vijayanagara candidate Anand Singh (Rs 74.56 crore), Davangere South candidate S Shivashankarappa (Rs 50.15 crore) and Harappanahalli candidate G Karunakara Reddy (Rs 34.06 crore).
Under the ‘High Assets’ category (Rs 5 crore to Rs 30 crore), there are 17 candidates contesting the second phase. A total of 46 candidates have declared very low assets of Rs 1 lakh or less. The total assets declared by all 372 candidates is Rs 902 crore, with average candidate assets of Rs 2.42 crore.
The Congress leads the list with total declared candidate assets of Rs 470 crore and average candidate assets of Rs 7.35 crore.
The BJP had total assets of Rs 249.8 crore and an average of Rs 3.78 crore and the JD(S) Rs 77.9 crore and Rs 1.28 crore.
source: New Indian Express
The BJP leads the list with 13 candidates, followed by the Congress -9, JD(S) -8, BSP -7 and others -12. Of these, six have been charged with murder or attempt to murder, with the BJP accounting for three and the JD(S), BSP and JD(U), one each.
The Karnataka Election Watch Committee, based on a study of the affidavits submitted by candidates during filing of nominations, revealed these findings on Sunday.
Releasing the report, Trilochan Sastry of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, said that the longterm strategy of the Committee is to pressure political parties to field clean candidates.
Crorepatis in the fray
The financial assets of candidates in general, has also seen a tremendous increase. Five candidates, two from the BJP and three from the Congress, have declared assets of over Rs 30 crore, coming under the ‘Very High’ category.
Bellary City constituency candidate Anil H Lad tops the list with assets worth Rs 172.72 crore, followed by Haliyal candidate R V Deshpande with Rs 116.29 crore. The list is rounded off with Vijayanagara candidate Anand Singh (Rs 74.56 crore), Davangere South candidate S Shivashankarappa (Rs 50.15 crore) and Harappanahalli candidate G Karunakara Reddy (Rs 34.06 crore).
Under the ‘High Assets’ category (Rs 5 crore to Rs 30 crore), there are 17 candidates contesting the second phase. A total of 46 candidates have declared very low assets of Rs 1 lakh or less. The total assets declared by all 372 candidates is Rs 902 crore, with average candidate assets of Rs 2.42 crore.
The Congress leads the list with total declared candidate assets of Rs 470 crore and average candidate assets of Rs 7.35 crore.
The BJP had total assets of Rs 249.8 crore and an average of Rs 3.78 crore and the JD(S) Rs 77.9 crore and Rs 1.28 crore.
source: New Indian Express
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Karnataka: 60% Turnout in First Phase of Polls
NEW DELHI: An estimated 60 per cent of the nearly 1.73 crore voters on Saturday exercised their franchise in the crucial first phase of Assembly elections in 89 of the 224 constituencies of Karnataka. (Watch)
"Polling was peaceful and there were no reports of any untoward incident like booth capture or violence from anywhere in the state," Deputy Chief Election Commissioner R Bhattacharya told reporters here.
Full Story: TOI
"Polling was peaceful and there were no reports of any untoward incident like booth capture or violence from anywhere in the state," Deputy Chief Election Commissioner R Bhattacharya told reporters here.
Full Story: TOI
Friday, May 9, 2008
First Phase: Peaceful Polling in Karnataka
BANGALORE: About 15 per cent of an estimated 1.73 crore electorate exercised their franchise till 10 am on Saturday in the 89 constituencies where polling is underway for the first phase of Assembly elections in Karnataka.
The poll process started without any trouble and no untoward incident had been reported, according to information reaching the police headquarters here.
Around 20 persons who were moving in a suspicious manner in Hebbal Assembly segment in the city were being questioned, police said.
Read more: Karnataka Polls
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