Efforts by the Bharatiya Janata Party to woo Congress MLAs are reportedly continuing, and the party is said to be eyeing J.N. Ganesh, Kampli MLA, who was suspended from the Congress for attacking his fellow legislator Anand Singh.
According to sources in the BJP, the party that is already learnt to have the support of four rebel Congress MLAs who skipped the recent Congress Legislature Party meeting and two Independents, is now hopeful of getting the support of Mr. Ganesh.
They hope to get the total number up to 10.
The efforts to woo the rebels were supposed to have gained momentum from Monday after the Congress legislators left the resort where they had been staying since Friday. But, the death of Siddaganga Mutt seer Shivakumara Swami has resulted in a lull for two to three days.
Meanwhile, the BJP is also said to be working on a plan of showing the coalition government in a poor light. According to a senior leader, the BJP hopes that the slackening administrative machinery would create a poor impression on the public. “This would remove the sympathy factor that the government would have normally enjoyed due to the efforts to topple it,” he said. The BJP feels that its efforts to woo Congress MLAs have at least succeeded in affecting the image of the government though it is nowhere close to toppling it. The leadership wants to keep political instability alive, sources said.