Absence of 4 MLAs at CLP meet shows chinks in Cong: BJP

Bengaluru: BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao Friday said the absence of four Congress MLAs, including former Karnataka minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, at the crucial Congress Legislature Party meeting here clearly shows the chinks prevalent in the country’s grand old party.

“The fact of the matter is the grand old party of India is in total disarray. Congress is facing some internal problems, therefore they have convened CLP meeting to display an apparent show of strength,” Rao, who is also incharge of BJP affairs in Karnataka, told PTI.

His remarks come in the wake of four Congress MLAs – Umesh Jadhav, Ramesh Jarkiholi and Mahesh Kumathalli and B Nagendra – skipping the CLP meeting that was called as a show of strength in a counter to an alleged bid by the BJP to topple the coalition government in Karnataka.

“With this kind of political turmoil in existence, the Kumaraswamy government cannot survive. The only thing is we cannot say when it would collapse. Whether it would collapse today, tomorrow or three to four months from now. I don’t know,” Rao said.

“The way the developments are unfolding are not good for the people of Karnataka,” he said.

Asked when the 104 BJP MLAs were expected to return to Karnataka, Rao said, “Gurgaon (Gurugram) is not the permanent base for Karnataka BJP MLAs. Either today or tomorrow they will return. There is no problem on this score.” 

He alleged that the MLAs were in Gurugram because of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s remarks that “they are also in touch with the BJP MLAs.