It is not just the governing coalition that is jittery over the prospects of the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party toppling the government. Tension is learnt to be building within the BJP State unit as its leaders have not been able to achieve a breakthrough in this direction so far despite its Central leadership giving them clearance to woo the coalition MLAs.
The BJP Central leadership, which had asked the Karnataka unit to halt the attempts to destabilise the coalition government till the formation of new Ministry at the Centre was completed, recently gave the go-ahead to continue its efforts, according to sources.
But the BJP State unit is learnt to be finding it tough to get the required number of coalition MLAs to quit their Assembly membership and defect. “We need to convince about 15 ruling MLAs to quit and contest the bypolls on our ticket. But it has not been possible to get these many MLAs to quit as the number is huge,” a BJP leader admitted.
In fact, nearly 30 ruling MLAs were learnt to be in touch with the BJP during the Lok Sabha polls, in which the saffron party registered an emphatic victory by winning 25 of 28 seats in the State. “But somehow, we have not been able to get the critical mass,” a BJP leader said. Most “rebel” MLAs had said that they would be joining once others too join in and the numbers begin to swell. This scenario appears to have put pressure on BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa as it would reflect on the party organisation’s ability to instil confidence among “rebel” MLAs that the party would indeed be able to form the government. Interestingly, some of the BJP leaders have now stopped setting deadlines for the collapse of the coalition government.
However, leaders close to Mr. Yeddyurappa insist that it is a question of time before the coalition government collapses. They maintain that the BJP wants the differences between the ruling allies to reach a peak. And hence, are waiting for an opportune time.
