The Latest Breaking News from Karnataka

Two hours before the floor test was to happen, the narrative on TV stations started changing. That was the first indication that the BJP had thrown in the towel. Anchors started pushing the line that the BJP high command was not too pleased with BS Yeddyurappa’s efforts to get a…

Out here, it is illegal for anyone on a bike to wear a helmet. That doesn’t seem right and it isn’t. “Not illegal, but can you see even one person wearing a helmet?”

The destination is now clear. Indian National Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) Members of Legislative Assembly will be stationed in Hyderabad to protect themselves from the onslaught of Operation Lotus 2.0.

It was a bitterly fought election. A campaign full of rhetoric from all sides, a random pre-poll move to divide the Lingayat vote bank which seems to have failed miserably, a carpet-bombing advertisement spree, a premature celebration which has now turned into a dank meme, a dark horse regional party doing much better than predicted and then, finally, a…

It is an Animal Farm of a different kind in Karnataka now. The BJP is out fishing, spreading its net far and wide, looking for anyone who could be lured to opt out of the Congress-JDS combine. With not everyone willing, it is also degenerating into a cat-and-mouse game. 

Full disclosure: This column invites pieces from people across political parties. Please check the bio for the author’s political affiliations.

It was sometime late on Sunday that contact was first established between New Delhi and Malleswaram. This neighbourhood in the north-western part of Bengaluru is where the Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch, HD Deve Gowda, lives. The Congress had reached out to him because by then, a day after voting on…

It’s verdict day for Karnataka. If you don’t know that then you’re obviously living under a rock. For those of us who do live above it and on Twitter and TV and digital news updates, the day has been, umm, a little like this.

In an electric 24 hours, the newly-minted Congress President Rahul Gandhi can go from being a Pappu to Sheru, or plunge the depths again, depending on the results of the Assembly election in Karnataka—an electoral battle that has significant ramifications in the run-up to the general election in 2019.

He’s the man on the street. Literally. The street is a highway, NH50, formerly NH13, four lanes of traffic, four lanes moving fast between Bijapur and Chitradurga, a fifth for a median that dissolves at intersections, or “crosses”, like the Kudala Sangama Cross we’re at.

In Karnataka, the Lingayats are fighting a battle to get the status of a separate religious community. They claim that the religion of the followers of 12th century philosopher Basavanna should be recognised as Lingayatism.