BJP dares CM to reveal names of ‘kingpins’

BJP leaders on Saturday dared Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to reveal names of the “kingpins,” who he said were being used by the saffron party to topple the coalition government.

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, BJP legislators Ayanur Manjunath, N Ravikumar and M P Renukacharya asked Kumaraswamy to take action against these kingpins.

Kumaraswamy, on Friday, had accused the BJP of using underworld kingpins to topple his government. He had charged that kingpins behind the lucrative illegal lottery business and murky dealings in BBMP were collecting money, which the BJP was offering to lure legislators to switch sides.

They charged that Kumaraswamy was making baseless charges against the BJP to cover up his failure as chief minister. “Nobody is taking him seriously these days,” they said.

The BJP legislators said it was the JD(S) that sheltered “rowdy and anti-social elements”.

"Gandhinagar is a den of matka and gambling. Who is the MLA there?” they said, throwing the question to constituency legislator and KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao.