Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s remark that the Congress government in Karnataka will collapse on the lines of what happened in Maharashtra has been ridiculed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who has termed it a “daydream” of the BJP.
Speaking to mediapersons in Bengaluru on Monday, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that it was not possible for the BJP to destabilise his government through Operation Kamala (engineered defection of MLAs from rival camps). Maintaining that the Congress-led INDIA bloc will win the Lok Sabha polls this time, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that it will not be possible for the BJP to try Operation Kamala again in Karnataka.
Tried and failed
“They have already tried Operation Kamala for the last one year and failed. Why will they try again,” he wondered and asserted that “None of the Congress MLAs are available for sale.” Hitting back at Mr. Shinde, he said such a thing could happen only in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, sources in the BJP interpreted Mr. Shinde’s remarks as “political posturing” in the Maharashtra context. They made it clear that as of now the BJP Karnataka unit had not thought anything along those lines.
BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra said the the BJP would not indulge in destabilising the government. He maintained that the results of the Lok Sabha polls may impact the Congress government in the State. But the BJP would continue to work as a responsible Opposition, he said.
Meanwhile the Congress launched a counter attack with its MLA Ravi Ganiga claiming that 25 MLAs from BJP and 13 MLAs JD(S) were in touch with the Congress leaders. He asked the BJP and JD(S) leaders to focus on keeping their flock together rather than trying to destabilise the Congress government.
DKS’ take
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, on the other hand, expressed confidence that Congress-led coalition government would come to power in Maharashtra after the 2024 general elections.
Speaking to reporters at the nomination filing by Congress candidates for the Legislative elections, he said, “After the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-led NDA government may not be in power in Maharashtra. Congress will form the government there with the help of coalition partners.”
