Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of spreading “rumours of instability” in the Karnataka government, the Congress on Wednesday said the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led government was stable and would remain so.
Senior Congress leader M. Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters at the party headquarters that all the 118 MLAs of the coalition were intact. He asked the BJP to explain why their MLAs were in a five-star hotel in Gurugram.
He also alleged that the Centre was using its investigating agencies, such as Enforcement Directorate (ED), to intimidate the coalition’s MLAs
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“I have spoken to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara as well as Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal. They all confirmed the stability of the Karnataka government. All our 118 MLAs are intact,” Mr. Kharge said.
The Congress leader also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government using intimidation tactics to destabilise the Kumaraswamy government. “From threatening our MLAs with Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate raids to luring them with money, the BJP’s efforts to destabilise the Karnataka government have failed. That is why they have now hidden their MLAs in a resort in Gurugram,” the senior Congress leader said.
He alleged that the BJP was spreading rumours about “missing MLAs” to create an atmosphere of instability. “If the BJP is strong in Karnataka, as they claim, then why do they have their MLAs holed up in Gurugram? They claim to believe in democracy, so why not free the MLAs?” he asked.
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Responding to the BJP charge of the Congress was trying to poach its MLAs, he said, “We are not inviting anyone, but if someone is willing to come, we cannot shut the door on them.”
When asked if a section of Congress MLAs was disgruntled with the party, the senior leader said that some people may be upset over issues such not getting ministerial berths, but the party was capable of addressing those concerns on its own.