Bengaluru, Sept 1 (IANS): After BJP National General Secretary B.L. Santhosh said that 40 to 45 Congress MLAs are in touch with him and he can carry out Operation Lotus in one day, Karnataka Congress dubbed it as the ‘joke of the century’.

Congress said that many prominent BJP leaders and legislators remained absent for Santhosh’s meeting and it was organised only to counter and challenge the former chief minister B S Yediyurappa.

“B L Santhosh is not able to establish contact with his own party MLAs. Now in such a situation, his claim of being in touch with Congress legislators is the joke of the century,” the Congress said.

Congress said that before spreading blatant lies, let Santhosh try to establish contact and win trust of his own party legislators.

Speaking at a meeting organised at the BJP party office in Bengaluru, Santhosh had said that he can carry out Operation Lotus (pulling the opposition MLAs and forming the government) in one day as Congress leaders are in touch with him.

However, he said, “We don’t want it now. We are not making any attempt to form the government.”

Santhosh had also said that no BJP leader is joining Congress. “Suppose if 10 leaders quit our party, we can always bring leaders who are capable and equal to them. People claim that the party would vanish in 2013 but despite the internal fights we won 40 seats. In 2023, we won 60 seats. We have become more powerful as an opposition party,” he had said.

Former BJP ministers K. Sudhakar, Ramesh Jarkiholi, B. Srirumulu, B.C. Patil, Govind Karjol, C.P. Yogeshwara and others attended the meeting.

However, former ministers and BJP MLAs S T Somashekar, Shivaram Hebbar, who are rumoured to join Congress party, skipped the meeting. M P Renukacharya, who is attacking the BJP, also did not attend the meeting. Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai also did not participate.