Fueling dissidence is Opposition duty, quelling it is ruling party's: BJP
Bengaluru: Putting on a brave front after an unsuccessful attempt at ‘Operation Lotus’, the state unit of BJP said it was the duty of the Opposition to fuel dissidence while the ruling party should take up the responsibility of quelling it.
Speaking to the media here on Thursday, general secretary of the state unit, Mr C T Ravi, said the BJP merely repeated poaching attempts launched by the Congress and JD (S) in the past. “When Mr Yeddyurappa was the Chief Minister, there was dissidence in the BJP as well. At that time, Mr Zameer Ahmed was the driver of the bus, while Mr H D Kumaraswamy was the conductor. Mr D K Shivakumar was the traffic controller, and action was taken against all dissident MLAs. If this was called as horse trading, what should the 2010 episode be called? If Congress and JD(S) leaders accuse us of offering money, how much money was offered to dissidents at that point in time?” he queried.
Taking a dig at former CM Siddaramaiah for making caustic remarks against the party and Mr Yeddyurappa, he said that the only “self respecting, decent politician in Karnataka must be Mr Siddaramaiah,” but alleged that the leader agreed to support JD(S) despite his defeat in Chamundeshwari by its nominee out of fear of being exposed in which he was allegedly involved during his tenure as CM. “Though he does not hold any Constitutional position, he continues to occupy an official quarters and a special chamber in Vidhana Soudha. Mr Siddaramaiah says BJP leaders are house breakers. He was DyCM and JD(S)LP leader when he formed AHINDA and moved to the Congress. What was that? He termed latest dissidence as ‘auction and purchase’ of MLAs by the BJP. In that case, for how much was he auctioned during that period? Since he is a big leader, he would have fetched a big amount,” he charged. He said if the Congress had any self respect, it should have initiated disciplinary action against dissident MLAs instead of celebrating their return Wednesday.
