Congress leaders in a huddle as threat of BJP poaching looms large over the Karnataka government, following defection of 2 Independents.
Bengaluru/New Delhi: The Congress and the JD(S) have intensified efforts to ensure that none of their MLAs are poached by the BJP, in the wake of two Independent legislators having withdrawn support to the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in Karnataka.
One of the first steps was taken by Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, who personally spoke to all of the 80 Congress MLAs, 37 JD(S) legislators and the lone Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA seeking to be assured of their continued support.
Apart from this, the chief minister has been a part of closed-door meetings with senior Congress leaders, including AICC Karnataka in-charge K.C. Venugopal, former chief minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dinesh Gundurao.
The coalition government has the support of 118 MLAs, above the halfway mark of 112 in the 224-member Karnataka assembly, even though the BJP is the single largest party with 104 MLAs. The two Independents have now aligned with the BJP.
There are fears in the Congress that the BJP may be planning another poaching exercise, dubbed Operation Lotus, targeting dissenting Congress leaders such as Gokak MLA and former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, who along with Chincholi MLA Umesh Jadhav, has been leading a group of discontent MLAs.
Sources in the Congress say that Jarkiholi and Jadhav have made up their minds to shift to the BJP, which if they do, will bring the coalition numbers further down to 116.
Officially, however, the Congress is putting up a brave face.
Senior Congressman Mallikarjun Kharge insisted that 118 MLAs are intact, and accused BJP president Amit Shah of attempting to buy the Congress legislators. “Our government (in Karnataka) is strong and will continue to be so. BJP had tried similar tactics in Manipur and Goa but they will not succeed in Karnataka,” he added.
Questioned on whether the Congress was in touch with BJP MLAs to get them to cross over, he denied the charges but said that “doors are open for everyone”.
“All the MLAs elected on the Congress and JD(S) tickets are intact; there is no rule in the rule book that they (BJP) can exploit at this juncture,” said AICC spokesperson and Rajya Sabha Member Naseer Hussain.
“They have tried every trick but they don’t have the numbers. The BJP’s attempts at horse trading, by offering money and ministerial berths, have been foiled and no MLA is crossing over. This effort is only further discrediting and denigrating the BJP,” he added.
Also read: What BJP gains or loses in Karnataka horse-trading race
The Jarkiholi factor
The Congress has had to contend with open dissent ever since the state cabinet reshuffle on 23 December, when party MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi indicated that he would quit after being dropped from the cabinet.
Jarkiholi, however, has been at loggerheads with senior Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar for several months now. Jarkiholi had been objecting to Shivakumar’s “interference” in politics at Belagavi, known to be the bastion of the Jarkiholi and his younger brother Satish Jarkiholi.
Shivakumar purportedly supported the candidates of Khanapur MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar instead of those backed by Jarkiholi during the local PLD Bank elections in October angering the Gokak MLA.
Since then, he has been threatening to leave the party and has been threatening to bring down the JD(S)-Congress coalition government.
The Congress had doused the earlier crisis in the aftermath of the cabinet reshuffle, but will now have to brave another one. The party is confident that the rebel leaders will realise that they don’t have the required numbers and will return.
“I am confident that these MLAs will realise that they are mere puppets in the hands of that BJP and will do a ghar wapsi (homecoming) to the Congress,” said senior Congress leader and spokesperson Brijesh Kalappa.
The JD(S) has also been stepping up efforts to save the coalition. Sources within the JD(S) told ThePrint that the party is willing to go to any lengths to save the coalition as its top brass believes that the alliance can win in at least 20 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Also read: 2 independent MLAs withdraw support from Kumaraswamy govt in Karnataka