Launching a frontal attack on the BJP over the political developments in Karnataka, the NCP Tuesday said the saffron party’s efforts to “dislodge” the Congress-JD(S) dispensation were aimed at creating a public perception ahead of Lok Sabha polls that alliance governments are unstable.
NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik said the BJP would not succeed in its alleged bid to poach some MLAs of Congress for dislodging the H D Kumaraswamy government in the southern state.
Malik’s comments came on a day two Independent MLAs in Karnataka withdrew support to the alliance government, triggering a political firestorm.
As the move set off speculations over survival of the seven-month old dispensation, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy ruled out any threat of stability to his ministry.
The ruling Congress and opposition BJP have levelled charges of horse-trading against each other, as the two MLAs who withdrew the support are staying in a hotel in Mumbai.
“The BJP will not be able to form government in Karnataka, as the numbers are not stacked in its favour,” Malik told reporters.
He said the BJP’s political manoeuvring was aimed at “creating a perception among the people ahead of the general polls that alliance governments are unstable”.
The BJP wanted to project it among voters as politically indispensable, Malik added.
In the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, BJP has 104 members, Congress-79, JD(S) 37, BSP, KPJP and Independent one each, besides Speaker. BSP, KPJP and an Independent are supporting the coalition.
In 2018, the Congress and the JD(S) had formed a coalition government in the southern state after BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa, who was sworn-in as Chief Minister, resigned ahead of taking floor test to prove majority in the same month.
Amid charges and counter-charges of horse-trading between BJP and Congress, the saffron party has shifted its flock of 104 MLAs to a resort in Haryana’s Nuh district.
Karnataka Water Resource Minister D K Shivakumar had said that three Congress MLAs were camping at a hotel in Mumbai in the “company of some BJP leaders”.
