Dinesh Gundu Rao says BJP made 3 attempts to buy MLAs, insists coalition has strengthened Congress and JD(S) as party workers have overcome differences.
Bengaluru: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be reduced to single digits in Karnataka in the upcoming Parliamentary elections, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dinesh Gundu Rao told ThePrint, adding that the saffron party’s alleged efforts to wean away Congress MLAs in the state will fail.
His comments come in the wake of Operation Kamala, an alleged attempt by the BJP to poach Congress MLAs, which saw both parties shift their legislators to resorts for “safe-keeping”.
Rao told ThePrint that in the eight months that the Congress-JD(S) government has been in power, the BJP has allegedly tried to lure ruling party MLAs on at least three occasions.
“The BJP has been using central agencies such as the I-T department, CBI and ED to put pressure on our MLAs and ministers. They talk to them by luring them with inducements. Some have been offered Rs 20 to Rs 30 crore,” Rao alleged.
“For the last eight months they have tried three times and failed. When there is so much pressure and such money floating around, people may be tempted as they will never earn these amounts in their lifetime.”
Rao further said that despite the BJP’s efforts, the coalition has strengthened both the Congress and JD(S) as party workers “have overcome their bitterness and differences”.
As a result, the Congress is confident that the coalition will get anywhere between 20 to 22 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, with the bulk of them expected to come from the old Mysore region that includes districts such as Hassan, Mysuru and Chamrajanagara, where the JD(S) and the Congress were once bitter rivals.
Also read: 5 reasons why BJP is so keen to topple the JDS-Congress government in Karnataka
Drunken brawl won’t affect Congress image
Rao insisted that the drunken brawl at the resort, which saw a Congress MLA hospitalised, will not dent the party’s image. He, however, added that action will be taken against Kampli MLA J.N. Ganesh who is absconding after allegedly attacking Anand Singh the Congress legislator from Vijayanagara.
“We have no tolerance for physical abuse or any sort of violence,” Rao said. “You can have a difference of opinion but when it becomes violent, we have a zero-tolerance policy.”
While Singh’s family has filed a case of assault, the Congress is also planning to take action based on the report of a high-powered committee headed by the Deputy Chief Minister G.Parameshwara. It has also sought an explanation from Ganesh, who has been suspended from the party.
Also read: Karnataka crisis: Can horse-trading be checked or should it be accepted as part of politics?
Congress hopes to have an alliance with JD(S) in Karnataka for Lok Sabha (LS) election. Congress has already made a huge sacrifice to form an alliance government with JD(S) in Karnataka. Question is not how many LS seats Congress-JD(S) alliance will win, but whether JD(S) will remain with UPA after LS election.
Quite possible. Destabilising a democratically formed government – someone senior has claimed it could be done in a fortnight in Madhya Pradesh – carries a bad odour. Not looked at with awe and respect by voters.