Even as the ruling JD(S)-Congress coalition in Karnataka is facing an uncertain future after 13 MLAs tendered their resignation, reports suggest that the rebel MLAs are being taken to Goa in a private aircraft belonging to BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
The rebel MLAs are reportedly being accompanied by BJP MLAs Ashwath Narayan and Arvind Limbavali, indicating that the saffron party's 'Operation Kamala' is on.
Earlier, the Congress accused the BJP of trying to bring down its coalition government in Karnataka by "buying" MLAs and asserted that the new word for the 'aaya Ram gaya Ram' phenomenon is "MODI— mischievously orchestrated defections in India".
The Karnataka government, which is a joint government having complete majority under our democratic setup, is now being sought to be pulled down by defections and resignations," Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told reporters in New Delhi.
"MLAs are being bought in broad daylight. We deprecate the efforts of the BJP to buy over legislators, to pressurise legislators, to bring down an elected government in Karnataka," he said, asserting that the BJP has made such moves in other states in the past as well.
Three JD(S) MLAs—Narayan Gowda (K.R. Pet), K. Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout) and H. Vishwanath (Hunsur) and nine Congress MLAs—Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Pratapgouda Patil (Maski), B.C. Patil (Hirekerur), Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani), Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur), Ramalinga Reddy (BTM layout), S.T. Somashekhar (Yeshwantpur) and Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram) and Munirathna (Rajarajeshwari Nagar) had submitted their resignation.
