Will have to wait and see if there is political instability in K'taka after May 23: BSY

Bengaluru: Amid unease in the ruling Congress-JDS ties, BJP’s Karnataka chief B S Yeddyurappa Saturday said his party would win 22 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in the State and one would have to wait and see if there would be political instability after the results are out on May 23.

Not willing to divulge anything on the BJP’s plan of action after the election results are out, the former Chief Minister claimed there was confusion between the ruling coalition partners.

“I’m confident and I have been saying this since the beginning that we will win 22 seats. Hundred per cent, we will win 22 seats, after that whatever ups and downs that will happen in politics, we have to wait and see- that is all… I dont want to say anything on that,” Yeddyurappa said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, “We will have to win the by-elections for two assembly seats (Chincholi and Kundgol on May 19) also, so I will start travelling from tomorrow.”

Citing recent statements of chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda and senior Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah, he said “There is lot of confusion between Congress and JDS..there is speculation…but everything will depend on Lok Sabha poll results,” he said.

“We will have to wait and see if there will be political instability in the state after the results are out on May 23…”

Karnataka Forest Minister Satish Jarkiholi earlier had alleged that the BJP would try to destabilise the Congress-JDS coalition government in the state if it repeats its 2014 Lok Sabha polls performance.
Speaking to reporters at Belagavi, he said, “If they (BJP) get more seats, they will try (to dislodge the government)… If they get similar to 2014, they will try. As of now it looks like they will get less, in such a case they will not indulge in Operation Kamala.”

“Operation Kamala” (Operation Lotus) refers to the successful attempt of the BJP to engineer the defection of opposition legislators to ensure the stability of the B S Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka in 2008.

As Lok Sabha polls drew to a close in Karnataka with the completion of two phase polling, speculation about the longevity of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government had once again come to the fore, with Yeddyurappa on April 23 predicting its collapse once the results are out on May 23.

There are talks in political circles that any adverse results for the coalition in the Lok Sabha polls, which they fought in alliance, will have its implications on the Kumaraswamy-led government.

Also, rebel Congress MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, who has been hobnobbing with BJP for some time now has been threatening that he along with other MLAs would resign from the party soon in bulk, which has caused fear among the ruling coalition as it would trigger the number game in the assembly.

BJP leader and MLA Sriramulu told reporters at Hubballi that the government would face “danger” once the results are out.

“It is clear that this government will not survive for long. There is big danger to this government after this election process is over.There will be big changes after May 23…”

Adding to the worry of the ruling coalition is also a meeting of “like-minded” MLAs that is likely to take place under the leadership Congress legislator S T Somashekar, soon after the May 19 assembly bypolls, to discuss issues faced by MLAs under the coalition government and long-pending development work.