Bengaluru: Shivakumar, who had earned the reputation of being a “trouble-shooter” in the Congress for bailing out the party from many crises in the past, accused Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy of being “lenient” towards the BJP.
Karnataka Water Resource minister DK Shivakumar Sunday said the BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ to topple the state’s coalition government was for real, alleging that three Congress MLAs were camping at a hotel in Mumbai in the “company of some BJP leaders”.
“Horse trading is going on in the state. Three of our MLAs are in Mumbai in a hotel with some BJP MLAs and leaders. We are aware of what has transpired there and how much has been offered to them,” he said.
Operation Lotus is a reference to the BJP allegedly luring several opposition MLAs to defect to ensure the stability of its then-government headed by B S Yeddyurappa in Karnataka in 2008.
Shivakumar, who had earned the reputation of being a “trouble-shooter” in the Congress for bailing out the party from many crises in the past, accused Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy of being “lenient” towards the BJP.
“Our chief minister is a bit lenient towards the BJP. By ‘lenient’, I mean he is not exposing the facts he knows. All the MLAs have conveyed to the chief minister about the ongoing conspiracies. They have also told Siddaramaiah about it. The chief minister is adopting a policy of wait and watch. If I was in his place, I would have exposed it within 24 hours,” Shivakumar said.
The minister said former chief minister Siddaramaiah and Congress state president Dinesh Gundu Rao were aware of the development. Shivakumar, however, exuded confidence that the BJP would not succeed in its attempt.
Many Congress MLAs in the southern state have alleged that they were approached by the BJP leaders to quit their party and join them. The saffron party has trashed the charges, saying the coalition partners were hiding their shortcomings and internal strife by making false accusations at the opposition.
News Courtesy: Press Trust of India (PTI)
