BENGALURU: As many have pointed to similarities between ‘Operation Kamala’ in Karnataka in 2019 and the present situation unfolding in Maharashtra, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLC Adagur H Vishwanath, who was one of the legislators poached by BJP, agreed that there are uncanny commonalities between the two episodes.
Vishwanath, who was Hunsur MLA before switching over to BJP, was asked not to contest and hand over the seat to BJP, with the promise that he would be made a minister. But he refused and contested the by-election which he lost. Asked if BJP destroyed his and Prathap Gouda Patil’s political careers, he said, “BJP is an institution. I will not blame BJP. But certain leaders worked to destroy our careers.”
Vishwanath’s supporters say that BJP insisted on nominating him as an MLC and not letting him contest the Council polls, as they wanted to ensure that he did not become a minister. On rumours that former chief minister BS Yediyurappa took a helicopter to Yadgir to meet Sharangouda Kandakur, son of JDS MLA Nagannagouda Kandakur, and offered him money to switch sides, Vishwanath said the incident was true and an audio tape too was released. He did not elaborate further.
He said that both in 2008 and 2019, BJP resorted to poaching to form governments as it lacked a majority on both occasions. Asked if the legal system was of no help and whether the anti-defection law had become a mere joke, he said the legal system could have been more alive and that the anti-defection has been reduced to a joke.
On Ramesh Jarkiholi, who led the rebels in 2019, Vishwanath said that though the investigation has given him a clean chit, BJP has not reinstated him. “There are some leaders in BJP who follow a system of use and throw,” he commented.
On prominent frontline leaders, like SM Krishna, Bangarappa, Rajashekar Murthy, Jeevraj Alva, Srinivas Prasad and him, being relegated to the sidelines by BJP, he said, “I will not blame the party as it is big. Certain leaders have done this.”
On Maharashtra rebel leader Eknath Shinde, he said, “The same plight that Congress and JDS leaders faced in Karnataka may await Shinde and his team once their utility is over. ‘’