BSY dares Cong to do reverse operation

State BJP president B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday dared the Congress to poach his party MLAs in wake of threat by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao to conduct "reverse Operation Lotus" (poaching of MLAs)

"Let them (Congress) do. Let Kumaraswamy (the chief minister) come and do it. The Congress leaders had been saying this for the past three months. We are not scared of anything," he told reporters on seeking his reaction to KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao’s threat. Rao had blamed the BJP for the resignation of two MLAs, Anand Singh and Ramesh Jarkiholi.

Yeddyurappa, however, said Rao blamed the BJP to mislead people. The resignation of Congress MLAs has nothing to do with the BJP. "How can the BJP be blamed for disgruntlement and confusion in the Congress and the JD(S)?...All 105 MLAs of the BJP are united and none of them has any plan to leave the party," he stated.

The BJP leader also denied media reports that he was in touch with the disgruntled Congress and JD(S) MLAs. "The BJP legislature party will meet and take an appropriate decision if the coalition government falls on its own. It is very premature to talk of moving no-confidence motion in the coming legislature session," he added.

Drought tour

This apart, Yeddyurappa is planning to again tour the drought-affected places in the state. The plan is to conclude his tour before the commencement of legislature session scheduled to begin on July 12. Yeddyurappa, the sources said, wants to use the drought tour to camouflage the “Operation Lotus." He recently toured some of drought-affected districts in north Karnataka.

Sources said Yeddyurappa has kept all activities related to poaching of rival party MLAs away from his Dollars’ Colony residence "Davalagiri." He has taken these precautionary measures following a strict direction from the party central leadership to avoid taking the blame for the poaching operation.