BANGALORE: After losing its second MLA to the BJP’s renewed Operation Lotus, the Congress leadership in Karnataka has been totally demoralised and is finding it difficult to arrest poaching of its MLAs by falling trap to the money and ministerial berths offered by the saffron brigade.
A day after losing Jagalur MLA S V Ramachandra, the party on Thursday lost Betamangala MLA Narayanaswamy, who too sent his resignation letter to the Speaker K G Bopaiah, who immediately accepted. KPCC president R V Deshpande stated that both Ramachandra and Narayanaswamy had been expelled from the party for a period of six years.
After losing its second MLA, the Congress leaders have decided not to stop anyone leaving the party to join the BJP.
“How can we guard them? They are not kids,” said a MLA from north Karnataka. Sources indicate that the party was about to lose a few more MLAs with whom the BJP leaders are said to be in touch.
Congress MLAs who had been staying at a star hotel for the last couple of days on Thursday evening dispersed to their respective constituencies and would return on Monday for another round of brain storming to weave next strategy.
Meanwhile, at a press conference, Congress Legislature party leader Siddaramaiah accused the BJP of indulging in buying rival party MLAs to stabilise its government.
He made a scathing attack on Bopaiah and alleged that the Speaker “through his partisan, biased decisions had brought disrepute to the Chair, besides lowering its dignity”.
“Speaker should be judicious, impartial and non partisan,” the Opposition leader said and added: “He (Bopaiah) was behaving as a BJP agent and as a slave by taking directions from Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.” Siddaramaiah demanded that Centre should intervene and impose President’s rule to put an end to the present “political anarchy” because of the BJP government’s “horse trading”.
He also questioned the decision of the Speaker to set up a house committee 10 days after the unruly incidents in the Legislative Assembly just based on a complaint filed by the BJP MLAs to frame the Opposition members.
“He should have taken action on the spot or at least when the Assembly reconvened on Thursday for the second trust vote,’’ Siddaramaiah said and labelled Bopaiah’s decision as a clear case of malafide intentions.