Deve Gowda said the Karnataka political crisis was “worse than emergency”, adding that the BJP has been trying to pull off Operation Lotus since 2009.
Janata Dal (Secular) supremo Deve Gowda on Thursday said the Karnataka political crisis was “worse than emergency” and urged all political parties to come together, setting aside their differences -- in order to “save democracy,” which he alleged, was under threat.
“I feel that the present situation is worse than the Emergency. DK Shivakumar went to the hotel but was denied entry despite having booked a room there... I have not seen anything like this in my 60 years of political life," news agency PTI quoted Gowda as saying.
When asked if he believes the BJP offered money to the rebel MLAs, Deve Gowda said, “They have given, given, given, given, given!” He added that making HD Kumaraswamy quit has been Yeddyurappa's suprabhata (good morning wish) since the day the coalition government came into being.
"Ever since Kumaraswamy took over as Chief Minister with the support of the Congress, (state BJP leader) BS Yeddyurappa has been trying to get some of our MLAs to cross over. Yeddyurappa has been trying to pull off Operation Kamala since 2009. Though the BJP does not have a majority, he made 10 of our MLAs resign," NDTV quoted Deve Gowda as saying.
As part of their political strategy codenamed as Operation Kamala (Operation Lotus), the Congress and the JDS have, time and again, accused the BJP of trying to poach their legislators.
Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar is yet to accept the resignations of the MLAs. Kumar has said he has to first hear the legislators. He has also pointed out that of the 16 resignations of the MLAs, only five were in the proper format.
The developments surfaced well ahead of the Assembly session starting Friday.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked Kumaraswamy to step down, claiming that his government has lost the majority.
Earlier, Karnataka Congress leader Siddaramaiah declared that party members would stage protests across the state to protest the "purchase" of legislators. "I tell you that our workers will not let you travel in the state. We will create a situation that will prevent you from meeting the people," he said.
In the meantime, Section 144 has been imposed at the state assembly Vidhana Soudha from July 11 till 14, according to ANI reports.
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