South

Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah today said the government of the BJP in Karnataka was not "constitutionally or ethically formed" and called it "a victory of horsetrading."

The Madras High Court on Friday ordered Rs 25 lakh compensation, a government job and a house for a pregnant woman, who was transfused with HIV-infected blood at a state-run hospital in Tamil Nadu's Sattur town where she was treated for anaemia in December 2018.

BJP president Amit Shah on Friday congratulated BS Yediyurappa after he took oath as Karnataka chief minister, and expressed confidence that the party will run a stable, pro-farmer and development-oriented government under him.

Soon after Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala invited him to form the government, Chief Minister-designate B.S. Yediyurappa on Friday directed Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar to withhold all new projects and transfers made by the earlier JD-S-Congress coalition government in this month.

Things have changed for Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa, and that goes for more than just his political fortunes. He has now reverted to spelling his name the old way, with an "i" instead of the second "d".

The Congress and JD(S) today hit out at the BJP and the ''BJP-backed Governor'' for allowing BS Yediyurappa to form the government in Karnataka through "unconstitutional means", alleging that democracy was being "butchered" in the state.

Showing remarkable momentum on Karnataka three days after the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government fell in a trust vote, the ruling BJP gave BS Yediyurappa the go-ahead in the early hours of this morning to stake claim to power. The clincher, say sources, was a video call between Karnataka BJP leaders and rebel lawmakers whose resignations enabled the coalition's collapse.

The BJP's BS Yediyurappa will be sworn in for the fourth time as Karnataka Chief Minister soon, three days after the coalition government led by HD Kumaraswamy failed a test of strength. Mr Yediyurappa met with Governor Vajubhai Vala this morning to stake claim and urged him to schedule an oath ceremony today. Mr Yediyurappa has to prove his majority by July 31 but sources say he may seek a trust vote before that, on Monday. "I am 101 per cent confident of getting the numbers," he told NDTV. The BJP's move ends speculation that the party was playing it safe to secure its numbers in the assembly.

A day after Adoor Gopalakrishnan and others raised voice against violence in the name of religion, a BJP leader in Kerala on Thursday hit out at the renowned auteur saying he was free to shift to the Moon or any other planet if he was unable to tolerate those chanting "Jai Sri Ram."

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday asserted cooperation between his state and neighbouring Telangana would ensure optimum utilisation of Godavari river water and hailed his counterpart K Chandrashekhar Rao as a "good man" taking steps for the "good" of Andhra.

Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, who disqualified three of the 15 lawmakers whose resignations crashed the Karnataka government, said he would decide on the rest of the cases on an individual basis "in a couple of days".

A four-year-old boy in Andhra Pradesh, allegedly kidnapped on Monday from his home in the East Godavari district, was found and returned safely after 60 hours of a search operation led by the state police. The identity of the kidnapper, however, is not yet known.

Adarsh, one of three accused in the murder of Rekha Mol, was arrested yesterday and today remanded to 14 days of judicial custody. The police are still searching for the other two accused, one of whom is Akhil Nair,an Army manbelieved to be in Delhiabout whom details have been sought

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda told NDTV today that he had reservations about his son HD Kumaraswamy becoming the Chief Minister of Karnataka following the alliance with the Congress after last year's assembly elections. The post, he said, it should have gone to a Congress leader - Mallikarjun Kharge or G Parameswara, who later became his son's deputy.

The Sri Lanka Navy has arrested at least four Indian fishermen and seized a fishing trawler for allegedly poaching in the country's territorial waters.