Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru / Chikkamagaluru / New Delhi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar on Wednesday sought to shut down speculation that Congress MLAs were being wooed by the BJP in a repeat of Operation Kamala.

The reference being made is to the poaching of 17 Congress and JD(S) MLA s being carried out by the saffron party back in 2019, successfully bringing down the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government.

Recently, former minister and one of the Panchamasali Lingayat faces of the BJP had ambitiously declared that 50 Congress MLAs would join the saffron party.

It is to be noted that Congress has 135 seats in the Assembly and 113 is required for a simple majority. Meanwhile, BJP and JD(S) together can only boast of 85 MLAs, which is well short of the magic number.

“Let anyone contact our MLAs, it won’t matter. They are strong willed and united. The BJP’s attempts will fail,” Siddaramaiah told mediapersons during his official visit to Chikkamagaluru district’s Mudigere taluk.

He had been visiting the area on account of a woman being trampled to death by a rampaging elephant. Shivakumar also rebuffed the claims that Congress MLAs would be tempted by the BJP to defect.

“The BJP won’t be able to pry away a single one of our MLAs. They too know very well that this is a failed attempt,” he said.

He made the remarks near the Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi during his official visit. The Deputy CM also refused to confirm whether the rumours about the intelligence department had informed him and the CM about an alleged plot to coordinate a defection of Karnataka Congress MLAs.

“They are doing this to create confusion before the Lok Sabha elections. I will not discuss these matters in public. They (BJP) are behaving in this manner because their party’s condition has deteriorated,” Shivakumar said.