Congress has asked for the dismissal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka after a leaked video clip went viral in which state Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa can be heard saying that party high command mobilised the collapse of the coalition government in the state.
The video posses as a piece of substantial evidence for the claim by Congress that 'Operation Lotus' was active in the state to destabilise the Congress-JD(S) coalition.
In the video, the voice alleged to be of Yediyurappa, expresses his concern over the 17 legislators whose resignation from their respective parties led to the formation of the saffron government in the state. He said that the decision regarding the debarred MLAs was taken by the President of BJP and Union Home Minister, Amit Shah and not by him or other party leaders.
CM Yediyurappa voiced out against his own party leaders saying that all 17 MLAs have been fooled for trusting the BJP and no one from the party is speaking in their favour. He said there is no unity among the party workers.
Persuaded for resignation
The opposition party lashed out at Yediyurappa for the fall of the previous government and also blamed Amit Shah for orchestrating the plot by toppling the coalition. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) leaders have submitted a memorandum to Governor Vajubhai Vala, stating that the 17 disqualified MLAs were pressurised to resign from their parties.
Congress has also demanded the resignation of the state CM and asked the Governor to write to President Ramnath Kovind to take action Amit Shah for supervising the collapse of the coalition government in Karnataka. Congress workers staged a protest in Bengaluru over the purported video.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary K C Venugopal blamed the saffron party for misusing the Supreme Court and said that they will use the video as a proof against the BJP for poaching the party leaders in the disqualified MLAs case that is being heard by the apex court.
Opposition leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah said: "What Yediyurappa and Amit Shah did was a conspiracy to murder democracy and a violation of the constitution. Both the Chief Minister and Home Minister have no right to hold a constitutional post."
No party tickets promised
CM Yediyurappa on Sunday told the media that he had indeed spoken to the party workers in Hubballi and had told them to say good things about the disqualified MLAs. However, on Monday he said that he never promised party tickets to the disqualified MLAs and that they resigned voluntarily.
He said that it is the stupidity of Congress leaders to demand his resignation as they are trying to mislead the SC in the disqualified MLAs case with the video clip.
