Bangalore:

State BJP chief Prahlad Joshi on Thursday dismissed suggestions that his party is soft on the JD-S with an eye on post-poll tie-up with the H D Deve Gowda-led outfit but asserted that the Congress would be the main rival in the May five Assembly elections.

"Our (main) competitor is Congress party. That's why we are attacking Congress", Joshi told reporters when asked if his party is being soft on JDS and has kept the option of joining forces with it in the post-poll scenario.

"Wherever JD-S is our nearest rival,our party and all of us have to appropriately attack (JDS); we are doing it", he said.

When it was pointed out that BJP was soft on JD-S even in Old Mysore region (consisting of districts such as Mysore and Mandya) where the latter has a strong base, Joshi sought to draw the attention to the statements (made against JDS) of BJP national vice-president and former chief minister Sadananda Gowda.

He argued that it does not make sense to attack JD-S in areas where it has no base and is not a serious contender.

In the 2008 elections to the 224-member Assembly, BJP bagged 110 seats, followed by Congress 80, JDS 28 and independents six.

Despite denials, it has not gone unnoticed during campaigning that BJP has largely targetted Congress, while JD-S has chosen the same party to attack, giving an impression in some quarters that the two parties might be positioning themselves to join hands if numbers stack up in their favour after the elections.

Meanwhile, Joshi said the BJP would get simple majority in the coming elections. Despite "political challenges" for the party and government during the last five years, the BJP rule was marked by lot of development works, he said.

He dismissed as "misinformation campaign" the charges in some quarters he is a "puppet" of senior party leader H N Ananth Kumar and a "rubber-stamp" of RSS. While he is proud he has an RSS background, he stressed he had always been in the forefront of party-sponsored pro-people agitations and that he had won his Lok Sabha seat with a huge margin.

source:http://zeenews.india.com

Opinion Poll Exit Poll for Karnataka Assembly Elections 2013 published by CNN-IBN, Opinion Poll shows Congress sweep, Karnataka latest political news, karnataka news, karnataka political news,

Bangalore:

The Congress has welcomed the CNN-IBN-The Week survey on Karnataka Assembly elections, saying it clearly shows what the people of the state want.

Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao said, "All indicators show that the Congress is ahead and should be able to form a government on its own with a comfortable majority. So, I think this is what the people of Karnataka want, they want a stable government and they want 5 years of good governance.

I think the option is only Congress and no other, they don't have any other choice. So the Congress is definitely way ahead of all the other political parties."

The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, rejected the findings of the survey. "Jagadish Shettar has given a spotless government and people of north Karnataka are extremely happy about his leadership and I don't think these surveys are very correct and true," state BJP President Prahlad Joshi said.

Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa's Karnataka Janata Paksha is hopeful of a bright future. "KJP's future is very bright. We are hopeful that the people will vote KJP to see that Yeddyurappa becomes the CM," KJP leader V Dhananjay Kumar said.

According to a pre-poll survey conducted by Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) for CNN-IBN and The Week in 294 locations of 75 constituencies spread across Karnataka a total of 4,198 people were interviewed and the results reveal that Congress is all set to decimate the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and storm the Vidhana Soudha with a clear majority.

With an overwhelming lead of almost 14 percentage points in vote share over the BJP, the Congress (37 per cent vote share) is likely to secure 117-129 seats in the 224-member Assembly. According to the CSDS pre-poll survey the BJP will secure just 23 per cent of votes and win 39-49 seats, a huge fall from its heyday of 2008 when Karnataka become India's first southern state to have a BJP government.

Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, who quit the BJP and formed Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP), is expected to hit his former party hard, looking set to secure seven per cent of the votes, while the Janata Dal Secular (JDS), with 20 per cent votes, will bag 34-44 seats, according to the survey. The other smaller parties and independents are likely to secure 13 per cent of the votes and win 14-22 seats.

While the Congress was the biggest party in terms of vote share in 2008 with 35 per cent, and the BJP came second with 34 per cent, the latter won more seats than the former to form the government. But the scenario in 2013 is completely different, with the Congress likely to gain two percentage points, but the BJP set to suffer a major jolt by losing 11 percentage points in vote share to slump to 23 per cent - and losing power in the process.

The JDS is also likely to gain one per cent in vote share to move to 20 per cent in 2013, while the Yeddyurappa-led KJP, which did not exist in 2008, will secure seven per cent of the votes. Other smaller parties and independents are set to corner 13 per cent of the votes, up one per cent.

A look at the different regions shows that the Congress is comfortably ahead in most of them, whereas the BJP and the JDS are involved in a close race to determine who will take the second spot. Five years ago, most people liked both the BJP and Yedyurappa, but in 2013 most people dislike them.

In Hyderabad Karnataka with 31 seats, the Congress has consolidated its lead over the BJP while the JDS has been on a downslide. The Congress looks set to recover and lead the BJP in Mumbai Karnataka which accounts for 50 seats whereas in Coastal Karntaka (21 seats) it is a close race between the two principal rivals with the JDS also improving its prospects.

Central Karnataka (35 seats) is also likely to see a Congress triumph as the BJP's base in the region has been dented by the KJP. In Southern Karnataka (51 seats) it is close race between the JDS and Congress while Bangalore (36 seats) is backing the Congress as the BJP's fortunes take a dip while the JDS is also making some gains.

Hyderabad Karnataka includes Gulbarga, Yadgir, Bidar, Raichur and Koppal districts; Mumbai Karnataka includes Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gadag, Dharwad and Haveri districts; Central Karnataka includes Bellary, Chitradurga, Davangere, Shimoga and Chikmagalur districts; Coastal Karnataka includes Uttar Kannada, Udupi, Dakshin Kannada and Kodagu.

In fact the BJP is down across all key socio-economic categories compared to 2008 with the Congress reaping the benefits. There is a strong anti-incumbency against the present government with 57 per cent of the respondents are against the BJP getting another chance to rule the state.

The BJP government has been assessed to be worse than the Congress-led Central government. But there is some hope for the BJP as its MLAs have been assessed better than the state government.

In another major revelation, Yeddyurappa's government has been rated slightly better than Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar's governments. Ironically Yeddyurappa was forced to quit following allegations of massive corruption.

Even though the Congress is way ahead of its rivals, its leaders are trailing in the chief ministership race which is led by HD Kumaraswamy of the JDS. Kumaraswamy is backed by 18 per cent of the respondents while KJP chief Yeddyurappa is second with 10 per cent of the votes and Siddaramaiah is the most popular of all Congress leaders with nine per cent.

Caste is set to play a major role with Vokkaligas overwhelmingly rooting for Kumaraswamy and Lingayats backing Yeddyurappa. Kumaraswamy is also viewed as the best chief minister ever across all age groups while SM Krishna is a close second and Yeddyurappa third.

In case of a hung Assembly most prefer a Congress-JDS alliance with JDS voters being overwhelmingly is favour of doing so.

Most of the respondents also say that the Congress provided the best governance out of all governments in last 15 years and satisfaction with the UPA government and Manmohan Singh is also fairly high.

Elections to the 224-member Assembly will take place in a single phase on May 5 and the counting is on May 8.

source:http://ibnlive.in.com

Bangalore:24 april 2013

Seeking to dismiss possibility of a hung assembly in Karnataka, Defence Minister and senior Congress leader AK Antony on Wednesday said his party can form the government on its own strength after the May 5 elections.

Releasing party's manifesto for the state elections here, the Minister, who heads the Congress coordination committee for the poll said its national leaders in Delhi are closely following the trend in the State.

"My feedback is we can form a stable, our own government in Karnataka," Antony said.

The Minister's comment came amidst intense debate among political analysts on the prospects of his party at the hustings-- whether it would be able to get the numbers on its own or will it have to depend on others to form a government.

Meanwhile, Antony also said the main thrust of the manifesto is to "bring back the glory" of Karnataka.

He said farsighted policies of various Congress governments in the past had led to Karnataka becoming a model state for others in terms of development and progressive policies.

"But unfortunately in the last few years, because of the change of guard from Congress to other parties-- BJP and JDS -- progress has died down, (and) ultimately stagnant(growth)," he said.

When Congress returns to power after May 5 Assembly polls, it would provide clean, corruption-free and development oriented administration, focus on inclusive growth, would not tolerate corruption from any quarter-- party and government, take stringent action against corrupt elements and strive for speedy economic and social development, Antony said.

"This election is very, very crucial for the entire state, people of Karnataka and future of Karnataka", he said, adding "it's an opportunity for us to save Karnataka, regain glory of Karnataka."

Antony also said party President Sonia Gandhi has stated that a high-power committee would be constituted to implement the promises made in the manifesto in a time-bound manner.

source:http://zeenews.india.com

Bangalore:24 april 2013

While various political parties are holding rallies to reach out to their voters, independent candidates in the elections fray are leaving no stone unturned to make their presence felt.

Despite being aware that there won’t be any instant change in the political set-up, the candidates are finding unique ways to send across their message to the voters in their constituencies, as per a newspaper report.

An IIM graduate, Sridhar Pabbisetty, is contesting from Jayanagar constituency. He campaigns on a bicycle and his pamphlets read that he has no corruption, bribery or criminal charges against them, the report states.

His cycling campaign has become a hit and as part of his canvassing, he has appealed to the people to vote to see the difference they have always wanted, according to the report.

Another independent candidate is Rakshith who is a KLE college student and is contesting from Rajajinagar. While canvassing, he reportedly does not make any promises and uses social media network like Facebook to connect to them.

Rakshith further appealed to the people to use this opportunity by not voting the corrupt politicians.

As many as 1,846 nominations were received from the independents. At least 242 independent nominations were rejected during the scrutiny of papers ahead of the Assembly Elections in the state last week.

source:http://zeenews.india.com

Mysore:

There are just 10 days to go for the Assembly elections as CNN-IBN's Karnataka Yatra reaches battlefield Mysore. Politics revolves around caste lines in modern day Mysore.

Fertile agricultural land being turned into residential plots and apartments is one of the first sights that hit one as they drive into Mysore.

Farmers like Samy Gowda have all sold their lands to realtors and they say in the area which was known for it's agricultural produce, a farmer has no space .

Inside Mysore city, the overflow of business from Bangalore has been pouring over the last decade turning a traditional city into an ultra modern town.

BK Harsh, who owns the famous Saraswathi Talkies, a theatre in Mysore, says he's worried that the city may descend into chaos like Bangalore.

As Mysore city turns into a bustling urban jungle, politics in the old Mysore regions continues to revolve around the Vokkaliga caste vote. Primarily agrarian, it's one of Karnataka's biggest caste blocks and Deve Gowda's JD(S) is seen as a prime player when it comes to Vokkaliga politics.

It's that vote that has given Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy enough seats from this region to be kingmakers in the past. This time, too, candidates like GT Deve Gowda from Mysore depend on that caste vote.

The BJP has a meagre presence here and it's virtually a two-way battle between the JD(S) and the Congress. Majority of congress candidates from the region are like actor turned politician Ambarish who belongs to the Vokkaliga caste. Ambarish hopes that along with his caste the presence of strong leaders like Siddaramiah who belongs to the OBC Krurba community in the Congress would give them the edge.

At the end of the day how the caste equations crystalise in the old Mysore region could well be decisive for the final picture in Karnataka.

source:http://ibnlive.in.com