Bengaluru: Taking advantage of the internal bickering among the coalition partners, the opposition BJP has reportedly sent feelers to rebel Congress MLAs to quit the party soon after the Lok Sabha poll results on May 23.
Confident of winning 22 plus Lok Sabha seats in the state, Mr Yeddyurappa had approached the MLAs through his emissaries, said a source adding, “we are only waiting to raise the curtains to watch the big political drama. It will happen soon after the poll results are announced"
However he refused to divulge details of the BJP strategy. "We will not disclose how many Congress and JD(S) MLAs will join the coup. But it will happen in a sudden development without giving room for the ruling party to safeguard its MLAs. We have faced setbacks in the past due to the leaking of our strategy. We have to be cautious about Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy who has directed the intelligence wing to track the movements of opposition leaders and rebel Congress MLAs. It will not be possible disclose how many MLAs are joining the BJP at this juncture," a BSY confident added.
Some sources close to Yeddyurappa also claimed that unlike in the past, former CM Siddaramaiah is likely to remain silent if the rebel MLAs cross the brink as he does not want the coalition government to continue. There is also a possibility of Siddaramaiah pulling the rug from under the H.D. Kumaraswamy government if his close confidant C.H. Vijayshankar loses in the Mysuru Lok Sabha polls, said sources.
According to sources, rebel Congress MLA from Gokak Ramesh Jarkiholi, Athani MLA Mahesh Kumatalli, Ballari MLA, B. Nagendra and Kampli M.LA J.N. Ganesh will join the rebel group. Meanwhile the BJP has approached Hirekerur MLA, B.C Patil too.
During the previous attempt by the BJP to reportedly topple the coalition government, some rebel MLAs had given their consent to join the BJP but due to the intervention of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and senior Congress leaders, the rebellion fizzled out.
To a question about the BJP being held responsible for differences between the coalition partners, Yeddyurappa told reporters in Kalaburagi, "Are we political sanyasis? Should we go and unite them?"
