Karnataka: Government stable and won't fall, says CM Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru, Oct 31 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said his government is stable and cannot collapse, dismissing the claim made by a BJP leader on Monday.

BJP MLA and former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi had said that the Congress government would collapse, adding it would be similar to what happened to the Uddhav Thackeray-led dispensation in Maharashtra.

Jarkiholi claimed that the government faces threats from within rather than anything external and that “Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and company” would be responsible for the fall, apparently drawing a parallel with Ajit Pawar's action in the neighbouring state.

Hitting back at him, Siddaramaiah said, “Our government is stable and it is not possible to collapse just because a BJP leader has said it" Jarkiholi on Monday also rubbished Congress's allegation that it was the BJP that was engaging in a 2019-like 'Operation Lotus' to topple the government.

He dismissed the Congress's allegation that those who brought down the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in 2019 are active once again and are offering bribes to the ruling Congress MLAs to jump ship.

Jarkiholi, who was previously with Congress and was seen as instrumental in the fall of the coalition government four years ago, said the BJP has never talked about ‘Operation Lotus’. Instead, it is the "drama company" of DCM Shivakumar that is talking about it, he claimed. PTI