At the height of the horsetrading allegations in Karnataka, levelled by both the BJP and the Congress accusing the other of attempting to poach MLAs, one of the three Congress MLAs, who had gone off the radar, re-appeared. According to NDTV, Bhima Naik, MLA from Hagaribommanahalli, said that the party might not have been able to contact him because his phone was switched off. "I have two numbers. One was switched off," he said, adding that he had not been with the BJP, the publication wrote.
In a major setback to the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka, two independent MLAs had withdrawn their support to the state government. Mulabagilu MLA H. Nagesh and Ranebennur MLA and former minister R. Shankar sent a letter to Governor Vajubhai Vala, announcing their withdrawal of support to the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led government on Tuesday.
In the last couple of days, the state witnessed high drama after the BJP legislators, who went to Delhi last Thursday to attend the party's national council meet, chose to stay put in a resort in Gurugram. Simultaneously, a few Congress MLAs led by former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi landed in a Powai-based hotel in Mumbai.
The legislators who were denied a cabinet berth during the recent cabinet expansion and those dropped from the cabinet are said to be leaning towards the saffron party. Fearing another 'Operation Kamala' (Operation Lotus) by the BJP, the JD(S), too, has threatened to poach the saffron party's legislators.
-Inputs from PTI