In a fast developing story, hours after two independent MLAs withdrew their support from the Congress-JD(S)-led coalition, BJP President Amit Shah is expected to meet the BJP MLAs from Karnataka who are currently lodged in a Gurugram hotel. As reported by Republic TV, some BJP MLAs have claimed that Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is trying to get in touch with them and poach them.
Downplaying the crisis on hand, Kumaraswamy has claimed that his government is stable and intact. He said that he is in touch with the Congress MLAs who are in Mumbai and all is well. “Two MLAs withdrawing support from my government does not matter,” he said. Meanwhile, the independent MLAs have confirmed they will back the BJP.
As we have reported earlier, rumours of ‘Operation Lotus’ have been doing the rounds recently. DK Sivakumar had alleged that the BJP was indulging in ‘horse-trading’ and looking to poach the Congress party’s MLAs. He also accused CM Kumaraswamy of being lenient on the BJP.
The Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka has not been a smooth one ever since the two have stitched up this awkward coalition with the sole purpose to keep BJP out of power in Karnataka.
Recently, Kumaraswamy’s predicaments with the Congress laid bare when he claimed that he was being treated like a clerk instead of a chief minister. However, this was not the first time Chief Minister Kumaraswamy has lamented over his discomfort to work with the Congress party. Earlier in July, expressing his unhappiness over the coalition government, Kumaraswamy had cried saying he was unhappy and swallowing the poison of a coalition government.
Kumaraswamy also launched an attack on ally partner Congress over seat-sharing arrangement for the Lok Sabha elections. He said that ‘Congress should not treat JD(S) like third-grade citizens’.