Deve Gowda, a former chief minister of southern Karnataka state, became premier at the head of a 13-party coalition -- considered the first genuinely federal government in the country.

CNN: Center Cut

Deve Gowda, the current prime minister, is a politician from the southern state of Karnataka with no such emotional ties.

ECONOMIST: India and Pakistan: Fresh start? | The

Their families were told by prison authorities in the southern state of Karnataka where they are being held, activists and media reports say.

BBC: Veerappan seen in this undated file photo.

BJP-JD(U) alliance, which encompasses the southern state of Karnataka as well, could be the central partnership of the ruling coalition if it is re-elected.

ECONOMIST: India

Mrs Gandhi tried to throw the media off her scent when she slipped away to the southern state of Karnataka to register her candidacy for one of the two parliamentary seats she is contesting.

ECONOMIST: Greater expectations

In Karnataka, a southern Indian state, a police officer was killed by Maoists in 2011.

WSJ: India Antiterror Agency to Probe Deadly Maoist Attack