PM Modi collects report from a Union Minister from Karnataka about party’s poor show

Bengaluru: Following the disastrous show of BJP in the recent Assembly elections in the State, a Union Minister hailing from Karnataka has submitted a report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, State BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel and a Sangh Parivar leader responsible for the severe drubbing received by the party.

 It is said that, following the results of the elections, the PM summoned the Union Minister of Karnataka origin to his residence and collected information about the poor show of the party.

PM Modi also questioned the leader as to what they were doing when Congress was harping about 40 percent commission? In his reply, the Union Minister has told the PM that the previous CM Bommai had himself told others not to rack their brain, taking the responsibility of countering such serious issues on his own. Another main reason for the debacle was raking up reservation issue on the cusp of elections. Both Kateel and Bommai also failed to handle responsibilities efficiently. While Kateel restricted himself to Mangaluru (Kateel’s home town), Bommai failed to have a firm grip on the administration and failed to tackle the Opposition party efficiently.

Some of the tough decisions of Sangha Parivar during the election also added to the failure of the party. If the party was keen on denying ticket to old timers, they should have abided by it. Instead, the ticket was denied to party loyalists like former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and former Deputy Chief Minister K.S. Eshwarappa, but senior legislators like G.H. Thipppareddy of Chitradurga and others who were facing charges were given ticket. This move not just angered party workers, but also some of the communities.

Despite intensified lobbying for ticket by Shettar and another former Deputy CM Laxman Savadi, the Sangh Parivar leaders ignored them. As a result, the party had to pay a heavy price in Mumbai Karnataka and Kalyana Karnataka (Hyderabad-Karnataka) regions. Congress succeeded in using all our mistakes to its own political advantage. More than that, the pre-poll guarantees of Congress also proved handy in its victory, the Union Minister is learnt to have apprised the PM.

“If we (BJP) strengthen the organisation systematically and rectify the mistakes, we can taste success in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections,” the Union Minister is said to have advised Modi.

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Mysore/Mysuru: Varuna Constituency in Mysuru district, the native district of Chief Minister-designate Siddharamaiah, has once again proven to be auspicious for him as the senior Congress leader is set to become the Chief Minister for the second time.

According to villagers in Siddharamanahundi, Siddharamaiah’s birthplace, he is believed to have the blessings of Lord Siddarameshwara, whose temple is situated in Siddharamanahundi, falling within the Varuna segment. Siddharamaiah is a devoted follower of Lord Siddarameshwara, and the deity has consistently bestowed him with power, position and prominence.

After delimitation process

Siddharamaiah began contesting from the Varuna Assembly segment in 2008 after its formation due to delimitation. In the recent Assembly polls, he contested from Varuna for the third time. His son, Dr. Yathindra Siddharamaiah, also won from Varuna in 2018 when Siddu chose to contest from Chamundeshwari and Badami Constituencies.

After his first victory in 2008, Siddharamaiah became the Leader of the Opposition. In the subsequent 2013 Assembly polls, he became the Chief Minister when the Congress secured an absolute majority. He completed a full five-year term as Chief Minister. However, the Congress faced defeat in the 2018 polls when the party formed a coalition government with the JD(S).

The coalition later collapsed, and the BJP took over the government with the support of defectors from Congress and JD(S) in 2019, making Siddharamaiah the Leader of the Opposition once again.

 A rare achievement

In the 2023 Assembly polls, Siddharamaiah orchestrated the party’s election campaign, resulting in a resounding victory for Congress and catapulting Siddharamaiah to the Chief Minister’s position for the second time.

 This achievement is rare in Karnataka, with only one other leader, D. Devaraj Urs, having served as Chief Minister twice. Furthermore, Siddharamaiah is the second leader from Karnataka to have a full five-year term in his first stint as Chief Minister.

Siddharamaiah, who announced that the 2023 Assembly polls would be his last, secured a significant victory margin of 46,000 votes against the BJP candidate, former Housing Minister V. Somanna, who is not  from Varuna.

Constituency of good fortune

With this historic outcome, Siddharamaiah, hailing from a rural background, has emerged victorious three times from Varuna Constituency, while his son, Dr. Yathindra, represented it once from 2018 to 2023. This underscores the Constituency’s remarkable fortune for Siddharamaiah, as it has propelled him to the highest position in the State twice after his election.

Siddharamaiah entered State politics by successfully contesting from Chamundeshwari Constituency as an independent candidate in the 1983 polls. He went on to become a Minister and Deputy Chief Minister in different governments.

However, following delimitation, Siddharamaiah chose his home Constituency, Varuna, as his electoral battleground, where he has emerged victorious on three occasions. It can be said that both Chamundeshwari Constituency, where he embarked on his political journey and Varuna, which he currently represents, hold significant political significance for him.

In fact, it was in Chamundeshwari Constituency where Siddharamaiah experienced a political revival by contesting on a Congress ticket after leaving the JD(S) in the highly anticipated 2006 Assembly by-poll, which garnered national attention.

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Mysore/Mysuru: Reiterating that he contested from Varuna and Chamarajanagar as per the BJP High Command’s decision, former Minister V. Somanna has blamed some of his own party leaders at the top for his defeat in both the Constituencies.

Addressing party workers at the thanksgiving meet at the BJP Office in Chamarajapuram here on Wednesday, Somanna said that though he represented Bengaluru’s Govindarajanagar Assembly segment, Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts were like his two eyes.

Noting that Male Mahadeshwara Swamy was his family deity and he believes in Goddess Chamundeshwari, Somanna recalled how he ensured the success of Dasara in 2019 when he served as Mysuru District In-charge Minister then. ‘Goddess Chamundeshwari will look after those who betrayed me,’ he stated.

Maintaining that he would not disclose the names of his fellow partymen who worked against him in Varuna, Somanna said that the ‘sinners’ will be known one day. “I will not aspire for an MLC seat and I would not beg with anyone for any post,” he said.

Reiterating that top leaders of the party and not lower rung leaders, were responsible for his defeat, the former Minister said that his Varuna rival Siddharamaiah held campaigns with actors such as Shivarajkumar, Loose Mada and Duniya Vijay out of fear of losing polls.

Double steering Govt.

Somanna also took a dig at the Congress party saying that the Congress Government would be a double steering one as the top two leaders of that party are sure to steer the                                                                                           Karnataka Government in their own direction.

Asserting that the BJP Government was a double engine Government, with Bommai at the helm in the State and PM Modi at the Centre, he reiterated that the Congress Government would surely be a double steering one as could be seen in the past examples.

District Party President Mangala Somashekar, leaders M.V. Ravishankar, S. Mahadevaiah, Kote M. Shivanna, Kalmalli Vijaykumar and others were present.

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Mysore/Mysuru: Following the resounding victory of the Congress in the recently concluded Assembly polls, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha has expressed disappointment over the BJP’s defeat.

In a tweet, Simha urged party workers to forgive the party leaders. He emphasised that it is the dedicated grassroots party workers who tirelessly campaign for candidates on the ground.

Simha acknowledged the sacrifices made by party workers for the party’s sake and suggested that leaders should apologise to them in the light of the  humiliating defeat.

Simha further stated that party workers have the right to criticise leaders when the party faces electoral losses, as they are the ones who bear the brunt of challenges in the aftermath of the elections.

The MP cautioned party workers not to become victims of any manipulative schemes                                  devised by leaders pursuing personal agendas.

MP Pratap Simha emphasised that party workers should refrain from criticising their leaders solely based on the influence of others.

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• DKS is sole Deputy CM
• Power-sharing formula of 2.5 years each; Siddu to move to national politics later

Bengaluru: Ending days of speculation and negotiations, the Congress this morning chose Siddharamaiah as the 24th Chief Minister of Karnataka and KPCC President D.K. Shivakumar (DKS) as his lone deputy.

The oath-taking ceremony will take place on May 20 at Sri Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. The Congress will also elect its new CLP leader this evening. The meeting of newly-elected MLAs, MLCs and MPs is scheduled to be held at the Indira Gandhi Bhavan on Queen’s Road at 7 pm. Earlier on Wednesday, Siddharamaiah and Shivakumar, both contenders for the top job, held separate meetings with party leader Rahul Gandhi and AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge. AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal formally announced in New Delhi this noon that Siddharamaiah will be the next CM and Shivakumar will be his solo deputy.

Venugopal said that Shivakumar will continue as the KPCC President till the next Lok Sabha elections. A group of Ministers will also be sworn-in along with Siddharamaiah and Shivakumar, he added.

“We believe in consensus and not in dictatorship and that’s why the party had been holding meetings to decide on the next Karnataka CM. Both Siddharamaiah and Shivakumar are assets to the party and the power-sharing formula is to share the power with the people of Karnataka,” he said.

A backward class leader with over five decades of political experience, 75-year-old Siddharamaiah is considered one of the three remaining mass leaders of Karnataka — alongside former Prime Minister 91-year-old H.D. Deve Gowda of the JD(S) and former CM 80-year-old B.S. Yediyurappa of the BJP.

Deal finalised at 2.30 am

Though Venugopal did not mention the power-sharing formula, inside sources told Star of Mysore that the deal between Shivakumar, Siddharamaiah and AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge was clinched after night-long talks and finally former Congress Presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi addressed the leaders through video conferencing at 2.30 am.

Sonia Gandhi reportedly told Shivakumar that the party and the family would stand by him in any eventuality.

Shivakumar relented after he was told that he will be the lone Deputy CM with the influential Energy and Water Resources portfolios. In addition, the High Command has conceded to his demand that the majority of Cabinet Ministers would be his ‘loyalists’.

Power-sharing formula

As per the power-sharing formula, Siddharamaiah will be the CM for the first 2.5 years and he will move to the National politics later, facilitating Shivakumar to be the CM for the next 2.5 years. Sources said that at the CLP meeting this evening, Siddharamaiah will make an announcement that he will be the CM only for 2.5 years with the remaining term taken over by Shivakumar.

Earlier, both the leaders were opposed to the power-sharing formula as the Congress had made a similar promise in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh but has not implemented it, leading to discontentment. Shivakumar had stuck to this line of argument but relented later after the High Command asked Siddharamaiah to officially announce the 2.5-year formula at the CLP meeting.

Depends on LS poll outcome

Sources said the veteran leader had agreed to make the ‘sacrifice in the interest of the party’. The power sharing arrangement, it is learnt, now hinges on the Karnataka Congress’ performance in the LS election next year. Both Shivakumar and Siddharamaiah have been asked by the High Command to work in unison for the Lok Sabha elections to ensure the victory of Congress candidates.

Meanwhile, arrangements were afoot at Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru where the swearing-in ceremony will take place. Security has been stepped up near the residence of CM-designate Siddharamaiah in Bengaluru and around the Stadium where the ceremony will be held.

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Mysore/Mysuru: Maintaining that he would not lose heart over his defeat in the just concluded Assembly polls, former Chamaraja BJP MLA L. Nagendra said he will continue with his service activities.

Addressing a press meet here yesterday, Nagendra, who lost to K. Harishgowda of the Congress, said he had secured more number of votes as compared to the 2018 polls. Wondering which way the votes of JD(S), which came a close third in the 2018 Assembly polls, swung, he said that the five poll guarantees of the Congress might have helped it.

Noting that the poor performance of the JD(S) had an impact on the results, he appealed the BJP workers not to lose heart and continue their work for strengthening the party.

Replying to a question on whether he was in the race for the LS polls ticket from Mysuru, Nagendra said the question does not arise as Pratap Simha is already the MP.

Stating that the 40 percent commission charge made by the Congress against the BJP could not be proved, he reiterated that the poll guarantees announced by the Congress ahead of the polls, has helped the Congress in a big way. The Congress must act on its promises, he said adding that the people will revolt against the Congress if it fails to fulfil its poll freebies. He also urged the new Government to complete all the works and projects that were taken up when he was the MLA.

Corporator Ravindra, BJP leaders Satish, Vedavathi, Somashekar Raju  and S.K.Dinesh were present at the press meet.

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Chikkamagalur: Former Kadur JD(S) MLA Y.S.V. Datta, who was defeated from Kadur Constituency of Chikkamagalur district, has decided to take out ‘Prayaschitha Padayatra’ (a march of repentance) commencing on June 24, marking his 70th birthday.

Datta, who had quit JD(S) months ago to join the Congress in the hope of getting the Congress ticket from Kadur, was dejected when the party denied him the ticket last month. Subsequently he returned to his parent party JD(S) and contested the polls once again from Kadur in the just held Assembly polls, which he however lost.

In an appeal to the voters of Kadur on Tuesday, Datta, who was elected from Kadur on a JD(S) ticket in the 2013 Assembly polls,  said he had been with the people of Kadur for the last 17 years and was ever indebted to the love and support they extended to him.

He also clarified that his padayatra had nothing to do with any future election.

In the meantime, he held a meeting with his supporters at Kadur in the presence of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna. He expressed his disappointment over Datta’s decision to quit electoral politics and insisted that he should not take such a decision as victory and loss is common in politics.

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Tells Sait to concentrate on development works

Mysore/Mysuru: Defeated BJP candidate of NR Constituency Sandesh Swamy (S. Satish) has thanked his voters and congratulated his opponent Tanveer Sait, who has been re-elected by NR voters for the sixth time.

Speaking to the media at Pathrakartara Bhavan in city on Monday, he said that he will not move away from the Constituency after his defeat in the election.

Sandesh Swamy said that NR Constituency is his ‘karma bhoomi’ and he will continue to serve the people till his last breath. “I sincerely thank the voters for their support. Tanveer Sait should concentrate on the overall development of the Constituency without any discrimination,” he added.

“I am ready to give necessary cooperation for the development of the Constituency. I have launched many development works as three-time Corporator of Gayathripuram ward and also as the Mayor of the city. So far I have contested Assembly elections three times in 2013, 2018 and 2023 and in each election I am polling more votes than the previous. In 2013, I got 30,000 votes, in 2018, I obtained 44,000 votes and in 2023 election, people have given me more than 52,000 votes.  I am grateful for all the well-wishers, supporters and the voters and also thank the BJP leaders for giving me party ticket for second time,” he said.

NR BJP President Dr. Bhanuprakash, former President S. Murali and General Secretary Swamygowda were present at the press meet.

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By Gouri Satya, Sr. Journalist

The electrician, who came to my house on Sunday soon after the counting of votes of the Assembly elections on Saturday (May 13), was eager to express his opinion about the outcome of the polls, as the subject was still hot and fresh. Referring to the Congress’ stunning victory, he remarked that their community voted in favour of the Congress. They had received directions from their religious leaders to back the Congress as, he said, the ruling party, which they trusted in the last four years, had let them down. Their defeat was their own creation (ಸ್ವಯಂಕೃತಾಪರಾಧ).

It was obvious from his remarks that there was discontent among Lingayats, as its prominent leaders including former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who had played a crucial role in building up the party in the State, had been deprived of the Chief Ministership for the rest of the term and sidelined, while Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi, two influential senior leaders of the community, had been denied tickets along with nearly 20 others.

This disillusionment among the Lingayats largely benefited the Congress in scoring a stunning victory at the hustings. Savadi, for example, won by a huge margin of over 76,000 votes, defeating BJP’s Mahesh Kumathalli in Athani Assembly Constituency. Similarly, the saffron party was swept away in its stronghold of Lingayat belt in North Karnataka. The party which had 38 Lingayat legislators in 2018 could manage to win only 18 seats this time. On the other hand, as many as 34 Lingayats won on Congress tickets, while it was 26 in 2013 and 16 in 2018. The victory of so many Lingayat candidates gives credence to the remarks made by the electrician. 

The results also reveal the consolidation of Muslim votes in favour of the Congress. Of the 15 candidates it had fielded, nine were elected. BJP had fielded none and no Muslim candidate fielded by the JD(S) was elected. 

The BJP replaced many strong members of the party with as many as 70 new faces. The Gujarat experiment failed to benefit the party as could be seen from the results. It could have ensured the victory of some of its popular and senior candidates by retaining them in their Constituencies, but, on the other, pitted them against strong Congress  leaders, like in the case of  Minister V. Somanna, who was made to contest against former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah. Both Varuna and Chamarajanagar were outside Somanna’s home turf, Govindarajanagar in Bengaluru.

In an Assembly election, voters assess the State Government’s performance and elect candidates who are popular and easily accessible to them. In such a scenario, bringing outsiders to contest against the local candidates may fail to yield the desired result. This appears to be what happened in the case of the BJP. Voters were also disappointed over the lacklustre administration of Basavaraj Bommai. Bommai could barely match the two Congress strongmen,Siddharamaiah and D.K. Shivakumar. As a result, the leadership failed to effectively counter allegations like the 40% commission forcefully made out by the Congress during the campaign. 

Besides allegations of widespread corruption, the BJP’s reign was marred by a series of controversies like the hijab ban. Issues like communalism and inflation were other strong factors that cost the BJP dearly. Take the price of an LPG cylinder, it is as high as Rs. 1,100 today, which is too expensive for even a middle-class family. Similarly, the prices of most household items have become dear, turning the anger of the people against the ruling dispensation. No surprise, therefore, the five promises made to voters by Congress, by handing over a ‘guarantee card’ to every household in the State, caught the imagination of the people, in particular the poor.  

These and other issues like relying chiefly on Prime Minister for the party campaign led the BJP Government to a disastrous end. Its scoreboard nosedived to less than half of the Congress’ — 66 against 135.

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‘Why are we unable to give an IT-based voter list using Aadhaar, Artificial Intelligence?’

Mysore/Mysuru: The right to vote is an important prerogative of a citizen in a democracy and shockingly it has been found that hundreds of names went missing from the voters list in Mysuru and as a result, they were declared ineligible to vote in the recently concluded elections.

While the problem of names missing from the electoral rolls might not be new, the extent of the problem in this election is alarming. Both the voters and the Governments must share the blame for this.

The Government because it does a rush job just before the elections and as a result, many names are deleted due to the carelessness of the Election Section Officers or the Booth Level Officers.

Even the citizens have to shoulder the blame as till the next elections, no serious attempt will be made by them to ensure that their names are there in the list. They raise a furore only after they are unable to vote.

These were some of the issues that were discussed at the monthly meeting of the Mysuru Grahakara Parishat (MGP) held at Yadavagiri on Sunday. The theme of the meeting was “how Mysureans participated in the festival of democracy.” Speakers also expounded on the possibility of foul play in deletion of names.

Speakers opined that it is the business of the Election Commission (EC) to ensure that each and every individual gets a voter card. “Firstly, the EC gives advertisements in the newspapers. We all know the extent of illiteracy and the reach of newspapers. So a lot of people do not even get to know about the advertisements. Before every election, the EC must send its executives to households for the inclusion of names in the voters list. If it can happen for water and electricity bills, why can’t the same thing happen at least before the elections,” they questioned.

Has EC failed?

“Surprisingly, the EC which is able to conduct an elaborate election peacefully is unable to prepare a voter-friendly, foolproof voter list even after so many years. We are able to give world-class IT to developed countries but we cannot develop a system to prepare a voter’s list in this era of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It almost looks as though the EC or the Government is not keen to develop such a world-class latest IT-based list using Aadhaar and other tools,” speakers opined.

Another topic that came up for discussion was the use of money to lure voters to vote for a particular candidate. “With all the intelligent officers being present, is it rocket science that it is not possible to catch such illegal activities and prosecute the guilty,” the speakers wondered.

In many Constituencies, some supporters of candidates gave Rs. 1,500 to every voter who showed the inked finger and if they displayed the finger that has not been marked by indelible ink, they were given Rs. 3,000. Naturally, many preferred not to vote and took Rs. 3,000. “These are all reports from the public. When the general public knows about these incidents, how is it possible that the Election Commission has no clue,” they asked.

Head of the Political Science Department at St. Philomena’s College Prof. Anand, MGP Founder-President Bhamy V. Shenoy, Members Arun Kumar Shetty, Renu Agarwal, Vishwanath, D.N. Aruna Kumar, S. Shylajesha, Ajit, Prabha Nandeesh, B.R. Umakanth, Srishaila Ramanna, Padmavathi S. Bhat, Kushal, Geetha Velumani and others were present.

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