Bengaluru: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy dropped a bombshell here on Friday saying the BJP had not given up its ‘Operation Lotus’ to bring down his government and had once again offered huge sums to a Congress legislator to join it.
Speaking to reporters after a pre-budget meeting with farmer leaders, Mr Kumaraswamy said the Congress leader had informed him about the incident, which took place on Thursday evening.
“The Congress legislator was asked where his ‘gift’ should be sent to. I told him to tell the BJP leaders not to bother about the gift. This is a huge amount. Where is Mr Yeddyurappa getting such sums of money from? You will be surprised to know. I will reveal everything when the time comes,” he added.
Describing Operation Lotus as a hobby of Mr Yeddyurappa, he claimed he had tried similar tactics with many Congress and JD(S) legislators when he was Chief Minister. "For him, the legislators are a saleable commodity. Let him do his job, I am not scared," Mr Kumaraswamy declared.
On his meeting with the farmers, he said he had invited them from different districts to discuss their problems and give their suggestions. Issues pertaining to the markets, sugarcane price and grapes were discussed. "I will try to incorporate their suggestions in the budget,'' he said, adding that the year's first joint session of the legislature would be held on February 6 and the budget would be presented on February 8.
The Chief Minister also revealed that the Governor had cleared the nomination of JD(S) leader, Thippeswamy as MLC. Agriculture Minister, Bandeppa Kashampur said the rules for a loan scheme for streetside vendors had been relaxed and in the next fortnight 50,000 vendors would benefit from it. The scheme would be later extended to four lakh vendors.
