Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister M. Veerappa Moily on Saturday said the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the State would not win more than two or three Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections if it destabilises the coalition government headed by Chief Minister H.D. Kumraswamy.
Speaking to reporters after paying tributes to Bhrata Ratna Sir M. Visvesvaraya on his birth anniversary, at Muddenahalli in Chickballapur district, Mr. Moily said the BJP’s tally in the State would come down from 18 in 2014 to just two or three in 2019 if it succeeds in toppling the Kumaraswamy government.
Mr. Moily, MP, said the BJP suffered a massive defeat in the 2013 Assembly elections after undertaking ‘Operation Lotus’ during the B.S. Yeddyurappa regime. If the BJP indulged once again in such activity, the party would suffer heavily in the Lok Sabha elections, he said.
Defends CM’s statement
Defending the Chief Minister’s statement on the alleged nexus between “kingpins” and BJP leaders in an attempt to topple the coalition government, Mr. Moily said Mr. Kumarawmay had not spoken without information.
Mr. Kumaraswamy on Friday claimed that “kingpins” involved in gambling and illegal lottery business were aggregating and supplying money to the Opposition BJP in a bid to topple the coalition government by luring legislators of the governing parties.