‘Operation Lotus’: 2 Independent MLAs Withdraw Support To Congress-JD(S) Coalition

Bengaluru: A day after fresh horse trading saga erupted in Karnataka amid reports of three Congress MLAs camping in Mumbai’s Powai hotel in the “company of some BJP leaders”, two independent MLAs H Nagesh and R Shankar on Tuesday withdrew support to the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government.

Speaking to the media, Shakar accused the Karnataka government of being inefficient.  “Today is Makar Sankranti, on this day we want a change in the govt,” he said.

Nagesh attributed his decision to lack of ‘understanding between coalition partners’. “There’s no understanding among coalition partners. So, I decided to go with BJP for a stable government,” he told ANI.

In the 224-member Assembly, the Congress-JD(S) combine in Karnataka currently has 117 MLAs (Congress 80 and the JDS 37), while the BJP has 104 and there are three others. The halfway mark is 113.

While blaming the BJP for horse trading, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara said, “The saffron party is luring our MLAs through money and power but their attempts to destabilise the government will fail. Our government is stable.”

Earlier, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamiah had said that ‘BJP can only dream of dislodging the government but they will not succeed’.

On Monday, Karnataka Water Resource minister DK Shivakumar had alleged that the BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ to topple the state’s coalition government was on with three Congress MLAs were camping at a hotel in Mumbai.