BENGALURU: Close on the heels of senior JDS leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy predicting that the Congress government in Karnataka will collapse in six months, BJP leader and former minister CP Yogeshwar has said that the government will fall well ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“As the Sun changes its path after Sankranti, there will be change in (state) politics and it’s doubtful that the Congress government will survive.
We will not carry out any operation similar to what DK Shivakumar is doing... disgruntled Congress MLAs on their own will rebel against the government,” he told reporters in Channapatna.He claimed that some of the Congress MLAs who are in touch with him are unhappy with the Congress government as they are unable to perform their duties as legislators as they are not getting grants owing to the five guarantees.
A political change is expected after the end of 2023 as disgruntled Congress MLAs are thinking in the opposite direction as they were worried about their political future, Yogeshwar said.
“Due to lack of coordination in the Congress, a fight has started for the posts of CM and DyCM. I know 16 Congress MLAs and we talk to each other whenever possible and they will revolt against the government,” he claimed.
Referring to Veerashaiva Mahasabha president and senior Congress MLA Shamanuru Shivashankarappa’s statement that the community’s officers got a raw deal in the government, Yogeshwar felt that certain communities are being targeted which is why the Veerashaiva Lingayat CM issue has come to the fore.
He attacked Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh, brother of DyCM Shivakumar, alleging that he had highhandedness in the constituency.
“BJP will snatch the seat this time... people will teach Suresh a lesson for his ego,” Yogeshwar said.
On the BJP-JDS alliance, Yogeshwara said that it was inevitable for both parties to take on the DKS brothers and felt that it would benefit both the parties. JDS got the consent from its ranks and files for the alliance on Sunday at a meeting held at HD Kumaraswamy’s farmhouse in Kethaganahalli. “We will hold a meeting of Channapatna BJP leaders next week and will convince them about the alliance. Later, we will have another meeting with JDS leaders. It is up to the BJP high command to ask me to contest from Bengaluru Rural, I will do so. Otherwise, I will support the JDS candidate,” he said.
Meanwhile, former minister and BJP leader R Ashoka, too, predicted the fall of the Congress Karnataka government before Sankranti. “There is no doubt. I am confident that the government will collapse,” he said, adding that JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy is at it to pull down “the most corrupt government”.