BENGALURU: Chikkodi MLA and chief whip of the JD(S)-Congress coalition government, Ganesh Hukkeri, whipped up a storm on Sunday after he claimed he was planning to jump ship to the BJP. 

Speaking to a journalist over the phone, Hukkeri claimed that he would join BJP on January 19. Within hours, he laughed it off and deemed his statements a mere joke. He even took to Twitter to declare that he had no plans of leaving the Congress. 

Congress Is My Home since my Birth .Why Should I leave my Home for #BhartiyaJumlaParty??#IAmGaneshHukkeri #IAmCongress https://t.co/N3ftWS7bkb

— Ganesh Prakash Hukkeri (@HukkeriGanesh) January 13, 2019

“I will 100% join the BJP. I have decided to join on January 19 under the leadership of BS Yeddyurappa,” Hukkeri is heard telling the journalist over a phone call when asked if the buzz of him switching sides were true.

As soon as his statements started being aired on a local news channel, Hukkeri claimed that he was only joking. “Congress Is My Home since my Birth. Why Should I leave my Home for #BhartiyaJumlaParty?? #IAmGaneshHukkeri #IAmCongress (SIC)” he tweeted. Speaking to reporters later, Hukkeri said that his “joke” was misconstrued. “When reporters repeatedly asked me about it, I joked about joining BJP. Congress is my mother. Neither I nor my father (Prakash Hukkeri, MP) is going anywhere,” he said. 

Hukkeri added that he spent Saturday with Siddaramaiah discussing preparations for the Lok Sabha polls.
Hukkeri’s claims come at a time when a few Congress legislators are alleged to be in New Delhi in the hope of trying their luck with the BJP.

Chincholi MLA Umesh Jadhav who was a ministerial berth aspirant has also gone incommunicado making way for speculation.

“He has been given a good position by the party. The question of Ganesh joining BJP doesn’t arise. Some MLAs might have gone to Delhi on personal work. There is no need to link it with politics,” said Satish Jarkiholi, Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment. 

Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar said on Sunday that none of their MLAs would join the BJP though the party was still attempting to poach. “Our MLAs are being offered money. They have informed the Chief Minister as well as Siddaramaiah on how BJP is going about Operation Kamala,” Shivakumar said.  He added that BJP should stop their attempts and behave like a responsible opposition.

The extension of stay of Karnataka BJP MPs and MLAs in New Delhi gave room for more speculation with the Congress accusing BJP of hatching ways to topple the coalition government. “Today’s MLA & MP meeting in Delhi is an extension of the National Convention ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha election preparation. Congress should stop blaming BJP for their failures and inefficiency to handle their party men,” the BJP retorted with a tweet.