BS Yeddyurappa on Congress leader KC Venugopal’s jibe at BJP on poaching: Former Karnataka chief minister state BJP President BS Yeddyurappa on Tuesday claimed that not a single person from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will join any other party in the state. Yeddyurappa also asserted that after May 23, more than 20 Congress MLAs, who are not happy with HD Kumaraswamy, will not continue in the party in Karnataka. Yeddyurappa is hopeful that the BJP will win in the by-polls for Kundgol and Chincholi assembly constituencies.
Yeddyurappa’s statement came after hours after Karnataka Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal on Monday claimed that several BJP legislators would join his party after the Lok Sabha poll results are declared on May 23. Exuding confidence about the formation of a Congress-led government at the Centre, Venugopal dismissed speculations about the longevity of the coalition government in Karnataka.
The statement by the AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka came a day after Congress leader and minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan claimed that state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa was “daydreaming” about coming to power and claimed that around 10 saffron party MLAs were in touch with his party.
In January this year, BJP had housed all its 104 MLAs in a hotel in Gurugram, fearing attempts of poaching by the Congress.
A month later, Congress alleged that Yeddyurappa had offered around Rs 200 crore to 18 of its MLAs in an attempt to destabilise the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka.
Karnataka went to polls in two phases of the Lok Sabha elections – on April 18 and 23 – for the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
