Congress govt will fall as MLAs want to defect to BJP: Former Karnataka CM

“The government will not stay for long. It will fall, as Congress MLAs are upset with their party’s government. A lot of Congress MLAs, including Kagwad MLA Raju Kage, want to join the BJP,” he told reporters in Belagavi on June 23. He was responding to Mr. Kage’s statement that he was so upset with the slow pace of development work in his constituency that he might resign.

Mr. Shettar clarified that the BJP is not planning any ‘Operation Lotus’ to engineer defections from the Congress, but they were volunteering to change parties.

Eeranna Kadadi, Rajya Sabha member, said he would advice his friend Mr. Kage to ask the CM to quit rather than submit his resignation from the Assembly. “CM Siddaramaiah should resign, rather than lead a pauper government. We have been alleging that this government has run out of funds for development projects. Now, Congress MLAs are saying this. We insist the CM resign,” Mr. Kadadi said.

To a query, he said he would welcome Mr. Kage to join the BJP if he were to come back. Mr. Kage had quit the BJP to join the Congress before the last Assembly polls, along with former Deputy CM Laxman Savadi.

“I think Mr. Kage is telling the truth,” said MLA Abhay Patil. “Mr. Kage is a senior legislator. He has claimed that the government was not issuing work orders for projects cleared two years ago. His statement means only two things. One that the CM has issued bogus letters to MLAs, in the name of special grants. One of these letters was given to Mr. Kage.

“The second possibility is that Mr. Kage should have facilitated work in his constituency by bribing officials in the Vidhana Soudha. He should have paid some percentage of the project cost as bribe to powerful people in various departments. Obviously, he has not done it. That is why work has been stalled in his constituency.”