Bengaluru: With almost all exit polls on Sunday predicting a landslide victory for the Narendra Modi led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre, the state BJP is upbeat and is reportedly planning to go for the jugular-topple the ruling coalition by carrying out Operation Lotus at a time when the JD(S)-Congress combine is riven by dissent.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a BJP leader on the condition of anonymity said, "With our party all set to storm to power, it will give an edge to our efforts to draw more disgruntled leaders from the ruling dispensation to our side. There are more than a dozen disgruntled leaders like Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak MLA) who are eagerly waiting to join us. The only way to bring them to our side is by reviving Operation Lotus on a larger scale and bring our party back to power in the state as well."
To buttress his arguments the source said the high turnout in both Chincholi and Kundgol assembly segments are a pointer to the fact that the BJP will win both seats. "If we manage to win these seats, then it will be even more easier for us to carry out Operation Lotus in a big way," the leader argued.
Not ready to buy the argument that in such circumstances, Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy may decide to dissolve the assembly, the leader said that with the BJP at the helm of affairs at the Centre, a decision on dissolving the Assembly can be postponed by keeping the House in suspended animation or even imposing President's rule. "This will give us ample time to negotiate and renegotiate terms with a group of MLAs who may be interested in joining us. We can plan better if President's rule is in place, hence, if the exit poll predictions come true on May 23, then Operation Lotus will be our first weapon bring this unholy nexus of the Congress and JD(S) to its knees," the source claimed.
The Congress and JD(S) have been at loggerheads with a section of Congressmen demanding that the coalition's co-ordination committee chairman Siddaramiah be reinstalled as CM replacing Mr H.D. Kumaraswamy. The chasm may widen after the Lok Sabha results when a poor show by the coalition may trigger a fresh war of words between Congress and JD(S) leaders. During the campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, several allegations were made by JD(S) leaders against Congmen and vice-versa that leaders of the coalition partner were not campaigning for the respective candidates.
