“There will be no Congress left…”: BJP’s KS Eshwarappa claims ‘Operation Lotus’ in works

Raising the spectre of ‘Operation Lotus’ 2.0 in Karnataka, senior BJP leader KS Eshwarappa on Sunday claimed that there will be no Congress left in the state before or after the Lok Sabha elections next year. Addressing a press conference in Shivamogga on Saturday, Eshwarappa said, “The Congress is making big claims. They are saying that half of the BJP MLAs will join their party. But not a single MLA has switched over to the Congress as yet. There will be no Congress left in the state before or after the next general elections.”

“I can give a 100 per cent guarantee that there will be another ‘Operation Lotus’ in Karnataka. The Congress has no future in the country,” the senior BJP leader claimed, adding all leaders in the ruling party will switch over to the saffron camp. He claimed further that 17 Congress MLAs approached the BJP claiming that there was no “internal cohesion” in the party.

He added that KH Muniyappa, the state minister for Food and Civil Supplies, was heard saying at a Congress meeting in Bengaluru two months back that all elders or senior members in the state should resign from the party as new members should be given a chance every two years. “If that happened, will this government survive? We have reasons to believe that some (Congress) MLAs are unhappy with the government. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has also admitted that there was displeasure and disaffection among some party members and they were trying to fix it,” the BJP leader said.

He claimed further that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy Shivakumar were at odds over various issues. Hitting out at Priyank Kharge, a minister in the Karnataka government and son of Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, said, “Priyank Kharge said the government has no money for development for at least one year. They have not released a single penny for development. Is this how they plan to run the state?”

Further, accusing the ruling party of corruption, the former minister said, “The government is cheating the poor and plunging the state into darkness through frequent power outages. They have released a single penny for development or welfare projects.” Invoking the time ShivKumar served in Tihar Jail in an alleged corruption case, Eshwarappa alleged that the deputy CM is presiding over a “corrupt government”.

He also took a dig at the Opposition bloc — INDIA — for being able to pick a leader or a prime ministerial candidate by consensus at the two-day Mumbai conclave. Responding to RJD’s chief Lalu Prasad’s remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP leader said, “Lalu Prasad Yadav says I must see Modi step down (as PM) before I die. I pray to the Almighty to give him a long life.”

“Just as one can’t belie the existence of Surya and Chandra (Sun and Moon), no one can deny that PM Modi will return to the country’s highest post again. INDIA cannot unite the country as they can’t even pick a PM face by choice,” Eshwarappa added. On the BJP not having a Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly yet, he pointed to the Congress, saying it did not have a national president for two years. (ANI)