Mandya. A Congress MLA in Karnataka on Sunday accused the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of running ‘Operation Lotus’ to destabilise the state government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and said that efforts are being made to lure Congress MLAs by offering Rs 100 crore. Congress MLA from Mandya Ravikumar Gowda said that even though the BJP is trying to destabilise the government by luring MLAs, no MLA will fall into its trap and the Congress government in the state is stable and strong.
In response to a reporter’s question, Gowda said, “I am saying even today that they (BJP) have now increased the offer of Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore. Someone called me the day before yesterday and said that Rs 100 crore is ready. They want to buy 50 MLAs. BJP people have reached Rs 100 crore from Rs 50 crore.” He told the media here, “Someone called me, I told him to keep Rs 100 crore with him, I thought of complaining to the ED (Enforcement Directorate). They (BJP) are making plans to topple our government every day, from Rs 50 crore they have now reached an offer of Rs 100 crore, but our government is stable, the Chief Minister is also strong.” Earlier in October last year too, Gowda had claimed that a team tried to lure Congress MLAs by offering Rs 50 crore and ministerial post. He had said that four MLAs were contacted and there was evidence to support this claim.
Gowda accused BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santosh, Union ministers Shobha Karandlaje, Prahlad Joshi and H D Kumaraswamy (Janata Dal-Secular) of working as a “gang” to destabilise the Congress government in the state.
He said that with 136 MLAs, the Congress government is “as strong as a rock”, the popular chief minister of the state is a well-wisher of the poor and no one can remove him.
He said, “But these people have made promises to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and are roaming around with the aim of toppling the government.” Gowda alleged that BJP’s “middlemen” are contacting Congress MLAs daily. He said, “None of our MLAs will fall into their trap… They (BJP) want to topple the government by buying MLAs. They want to create instability, because Congress is strong in Karnataka.” He said, “We are collecting evidence, we will give it to ED, CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), we want to catch them with bags of cash… I have the audio of the person who called me, now his heart must be beating loudly, we will release it at the right time.”