Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Dec 17: At a time when the air is agog with rumours that the dissidents from within the BJP, most vocal among them being MLA, M P Renukacharya, have been toying with the idea of even going to the extent of forming a government with assistance from the Congress and the JDS, the BJP is preparing to reap a fresh crop of disgruntled legislators from the opposition camp through a renewed bout of ‘Operation Kamala’.

The group of BJP MLAs, M P Renukacharya, Belur Gopalakrishna, S K Bellubbi, Dr Sarvabhouma Bagali, Nelamangala Nagaraj,  Sampangi, Nanjundaswami, J Narasimhaswami and Chandrashekhar Revoor also has the support of eight ministers, Balachandra Jarkhiholi, Anand Asnotikar, Gulihatti Shekhar, Shivanagouda Nayak, P M Narendraswami, Shivaraj Tangadagi, D Sudhakar and Venkataramanappa. There is every indication that Vartur Prakash from Kolar will gleefully join hands with this group.

It is learnt that the state and national level Congress leaders have given the green signal to the efforts being made by JDS state president, H D Kumaraswami and others,  of forging an alliance of the Congress, JDS and the splinter group of the BJP, to form a new government.

Strangely, the Chief Minister (CM) is trying to fish in the troubled waters of the opposition parties through ‘Operation Kamala’, knowing fully well that several MLAs it had snatched through this operation, some of whom were also made ministers, are disgruntled now. For the BJP, this action has been necessitated because of the threat posed by the frustrated MLAs, who reportedly summoned two close aides of the Chief Minister after holding parleys, to the venue of their meeting and told them in no uncertain terms that they know what to do if the CM does not accede to their demands. They later met the CM and threatened to stay away from the party activities and the MLC election process, if their grievances are not addressed immediately.

Surprisingly, the Chief Minister is said to be drawing the support of the Reddy brothers in launching this fresh operation to snatch legislators from other parties. Yeddyurappa, who has been sounded about the possibility of a few of his men walking to the other side by the intelligence agencies, wants to ensure that the party does not fall short of majority, even if the detractors stage a coup. Yeddyurappa knows well that his earlier operations to get support of MLAs from other parties did not go down well with the loyal party workers, who are worried over the plum positions going to the recent entrants to the party, but he appears to be desperate to save his position. For the Reddy brothers, saving the government is of paramount importance, particularly at a time when they have lost their strong support system in Andhra Pradesh and the central government has launched a decisive offensive against them. They are understandably, prepared to strike a truce with the CM.

The CM held consultations with some cabinet colleagues considered close to him, like R Ashok, Katta Subrahmanya Naidu, Karunakar Reddy, Govind Karjol etc., on Monday night, after cancelling his engagements for the day.

Speaking to reporters later, however, Yeddyurappa denied that there was any dissidence in the party. “Just because Belur Gopalakrishna, Renukacharya and other friends went together to a hotel, it can not be termed a meeting of dissidents. They have met me and talked to me. As of now, the BJP government does not face any threat,” he claimed.