Karnataka election: Rahul Gandhi says Congress wining 'hands down'; updates

With Karnataka Assembly election 2018 now on their heads, the BJP and Congress have just one more day to convince and woo voters. Catch all the updates around the Karnataka election here

With the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 just two days away, the BJP and Congress' high-voltage campaigning will come to an end on Thursday at 5 pm. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today interacted with BJP Karnataka's SC/ST/OBC and slum morcha workers, slamming the Congress for disrespecting B R Ambedkar while trying to burnish his own government's record regarding welfare of SC/STs and OBCs. Congress President Rahul Gandhi said that he was confident of his party's victory in the Karnataka election.

For the BJP, party president Amit Shah and the party's chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa will be campaigning in the state today, while Congress chief Gandhi and incumbent Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will campaign for their party on the final day.

Apart from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Gandhi, the Karnataka election campaign has also seen political heavyweights Sonia Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath campaign for their respective parties.

The last day of campaigning for the Karnataka polls comes after Prime Minister Modi and Congress chief Gandhi were face-to-face in the state on the second last day for the campaigning. Working seriously on his 'Congress Mukt Bharat' mission, Modi used all of his oratory skills to lambast the Congress in his four election rallies on Wednesday. On the other hand, Gandhi said in his Basavanagudi rally that the people of Karnataka would reject Prime Minister Modi and the BJP. The Congress president also attacked the Prime Minister for being silent on the issue of alleged Dalit atrocities.

The election in Karnataka will be held on May 12 in 223 constituencies, out of the 224 constituencies of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, while the counting of votes and announcement of result will take place on May 15. The election for one constituency has been postponed following the death of B N Vijay Kumar, the Jayanagar BJP candidate.

Here are the top ten developments regarding the May 12 Karnataka Assembly election 2018:

1) Rahul Gandhi says confident of Congress victory in Karnataka: Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Rahul Gandhi said that he was confident of a Congress victory in the Karnataka election. "I have been travelling around Karnataka for few months now... we all stood together and fought (the) campaign on fundamental issues. We've prepared a manifesto which is truly voice of the people," said the Congress president.

All you need to know about the alleged scam behind Robert Vadra's Haryana land deal

All you need to know about the alleged scam behind Robert Vadra's Haryana land deal

Justice S N Dhingra, who was appointed to probe issues concerning the grant of license(s) for developing commercial colonies in Gurgaon Sector 83 by Haryana’s Department of Town and Country Planning, on Thursday asked for more time to submit the report.

Justice Dhingra, who was meant to submit on Friday a report on whether Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, was the beneficiary of a sweetheart deal when her party was in power, said that he needs an extension of six more weeks.

What the allegations are

The alleged scam revolves around Haryana-cadre IAS officer Ashok Khemka, Vadra, and the latter's company.

The company in question is Skylight Hospitality, which bought a 3.5-acre plot in Shikohpur village near Manesar. The same plot was later sold to DLF at a huge profit.

According to a report by Tehelka magazine, the land in question, purchased by Vadra's company for around Rs 7 crore, was sold to DLF for an amount of Rs 58 crore. The report added that in the period between its purchase and sale, the then Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government in the state granted a Change of Land Use (CLU) permission for the land. Due to the CLU permission, the report said that the value of the plot of land in question shot up sharply.

Alleging various irregularities, Khemka, in late 2012, set aside the mutation of the property sold by Vadra to DLF. However, the then Congress-run state government later gave a clean chit to Vadra. Read More.

Latest developments in India's NSG bid

Latest developments in India's NSG bid

The admission of India into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is taking new turns every day. China has now lowered its stance against India's membership by saying that NSG is open to discussing the entry of the countries who have not signed the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The 48- member club manages the flow of nuclear technology all over the world, with an aim to ensure the non proliferation of nuclear weapons and technologies. India has been vying hard for years to be part of this group as it would help the nation gain access to a plethora of new technologies, reduced depence on conventional sources of energy, among others.

This year with firm support from nations like United States, United Kingdom, Russia, India has a bright chance of getting into NSG. But, Pakistan with the backing of China is hell-bent on blocking this with the argument that the admission of a non-NPT signatory into the group is discriminatory. It says that all the nations who have not signed this treaty should be considered for the entry into the group.

China firmly supports this stand of Pakistan and says that they are not against India's admission to NSG but then Pakistan's membership should also be discussed. Earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry said the issue of India's membership to the 48-member group wasn't even on the agenda of the NSG's plenary meeting in Seoul. On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying Beijing said: "We understand that non-NPT countries are concerned about their entry into the NSG. But since NSG is still divided about the issue, so it is still not mature to talk about the entry issue in the annual conference in Seoul."Read more.

Latest developments in India's NSG bid

Latest developments in India's NSG bid

The admission of India into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is taking new turns every day. China has now lowered its stance against India's membership by saying that NSG is open to discussing the entry of the countries who have not signed the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The 48- member club manages the flow of nuclear technology all over the world, with an aim to ensure the non proliferation of nuclear weapons and technologies. India has been vying hard for years to be part of this group as it would help the nation gain access to a plethora of new technologies, reduced depence on conventional sources of energy, among others.

This year with firm support from nations like United States, United Kingdom, Russia, India has a bright chance of getting into NSG. But, Pakistan with the backing of China is hell-bent on blocking this with the argument that the admission of a non-NPT signatory into the group is discriminatory. It says that all the nations who have not signed this treaty should be considered for the entry into the group.

China firmly supports this stand of Pakistan and says that they are not against India's admission to NSG but then Pakistan's membership should also be discussed. Earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry said the issue of India's membership to the 48-member group wasn't even on the agenda of the NSG's plenary meeting in Seoul. On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying Beijing said: "We understand that non-NPT countries are concerned about their entry into the NSG. But since NSG is still divided about the issue, so it is still not mature to talk about the entry issue in the annual conference in Seoul."Read more.

Rishi Kapoor attacks Congress for naming country assets after Gandhi family

In a series of tweets, actor Rishi Kapoor has attacked the practice of naming all the major assets of the country after the Gandhi family members during the Congress rule.

The 63-year-old veteran actor, who had in the recent past, been critical of the Saffron forces on issues like intolerance, picked up the Congress for his blast this time.

Kapoor said the names of the prominent places should be changed after those who worked for the welfare of the country.

"Change Gandhi family assets named by Congress. Bandra/Worli Sea Link to Lata Mangeshkar or JRD Tata link road. Baap ka maal samjh rakha tha? (Did they consider it family property?).

"If roads in Delhi can be changed why not Congress assets/property ke naam? Was in Chandigarh wahan bhi Rajeev Gandhi assets? Socho? Why? (sic)," the actor tweeted.Read more.

How Prashant Kishor has upended the UP elections by proposing Priyanka Gandhi for CM

Prashant Kishor’s formula for the Congress’s resuscitation in Uttar Pradesh is as follows: Rahul Gandhi; if he demurs, then Priyanka; and if she also doesn’t want to lead the party in the state, then Sheila Dikshit. This is a sure way of shooting down the chances of at least one person. Even assuming that the venerable Dikshit – who has proven credentials as a chief minister and administrator, having bucked incumbency three times (a record not many Congress CMs can boast of) to lead the Delhi Congress – is willing to re-enter the snake-pit of UP politics at the age of 75-plus, what should we really expect from her? Every mohallaBrahmin who is a secret Congress sympathiser will be ready to jump into the fray – if it is to be Sheila Dikshit, why not me?

UP Elections : Two things are obvious. One, that Sonia Gandhi has retreated completely from decision making. She merely initials suggestions emanating from Tughlak Lane and 10 Janpath is merely a re-tweeting authority where a retweet is an endorsement. The leadership transition is happening even as we speak. In this process, many are deeply unhappy. They had invested in 10 Janpath and that piece of real estate is rapidly becoming worthless. The older leaders in the party knew and trusted the moves made by 10 Janpath. They don’t understand alternate poles of power like Prashant Kishor. No rebellion yet, but sabotage cannot be ruled out.

The second follows the first. If Sonia Gandhi is retreating, Rahul Gandhi cannot leave the running of the party and allow himself to be boxed in. If he becomes party president after May 19, as is generally expected, Priyanka will have to willy-nilly take charge in UP. To that extent, Dikshit etc are red herrings: no doubt they are conscious of it as well.

What is clear is the Kishor strategy of disruption. The Congress was nowhere in the reckoning in UP. Now suddenly people have begun talking about the party, there is discussion and speculation and the games have begun.Read more about this Article.