Min dares BJP to poach Cong MLAs; Eshwarappa hints at 'Op Lotus’

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: As remarks by BL Santosh, the BJP’s National General Secretary, stating their intention to poach Congress MLAs in Karnataka have sparked controversy, Priyank Kharge, the Minister for IT-BT, Rural Development, and Panchayat Raj, has issued a bold challenge.

Kharge asserted that the Congress party in Karnataka remains steadfast and dared the BJP to attempt to destabilise it.

In response to claims that around 40-45 Congress MLAs were in contact with the BJP, Minister Kharge declared, “We will give them a month and let them try to shake our government in the state.”

Kharge also criticised the BJP, questioning whether they have the ability to appoint a Leader of Opposition in the upper house within a week. He challenged the BJP’s capability to accept such a challenge.

Meanwhile, for mer Deputy Chief Minister KS Eshwarappa suggested that the BJP is likely to initiate “Operation Lotus” to topple the Congress government in Karnataka.

He expressed confidence that the Congress government would cease to function in the state before or after the Lok Sabha elections, urging Priyank Kharge to wait and see.

Eshwarappa claimed that the Congress has been unable to persuade a single MLA from the BJP to defect and criticized the party for engaging in negative publicity about BJP MLAs defecting to the Congress.

He challenged the Congress to lure even a single MLA from the BJP within a month. Additionally, Eshwarappa accused the Deputy Chief Minister, who had been arrested in a money laundering case, of making statements that elected representatives should not hide their properties, citing the JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna’s disqualification case.

He likened this to a devil citing Bhagavad Gita. Eshwarappa also questioned why the Congress party is waiting for BJP MLAs to join them, referring to a statement by the Chief Minister that Congress would not accept back any of the 17 defectors who had left the party to join the BJP as long as the sun and the moon exist in the universe.