BJP working to destabilise govt: KPCC working president

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president Ishwar Khandre on Thursday accused Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to destabilise the state government.

Khandre also accused BJP of horse trading, saying: "They (BJP) did not have a mandate from people, still they formed the government. It was a slap on the face of BJP leadership and despite that, they want to indulge in operation 'Lotus'."

Terming all allegations against Congress as baseless, he said that the party is constantly in touch with its MLAs.

This comes a day after BJP state unit chief and former Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa alleged that Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy was indulging in horse-trading by offering money and ministerial posts to his MLAs.

BJP MLAs from Karnataka who have camped themselves in Gurugram since Monday evening said that they were here to make strategies for the coming Lok Sabha polls and had not run away fearing poaching by the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance.

The charges of horse-trading were triggered after three Karnataka Congress MLAs visited Mumbai earlier on Monday, reportedly along with some BJP MLAs. This was followed by the Congress' allegation that the BJP was trying to poach the ruling party's MLAs to destabilise the government in Karnataka.

Yeddyurappa has refuted these charges, saying that his party had nothing to do with the three Congress lawmakers' Mumbai visit, and accused the Congress-JD(S) alliance of making a poaching bid.

Chief Minister Kumaraswamy has also accused Yeddyurappa of fabricating stories, adding that there was no need for the Congress-JD(S) alliance to poach on any party's lawmakers.