Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party state leaders had offered ₹5 crore to two MLAs of the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance to switch their loyalties.
Addressing the media, he said BJP leaders had called MLAs Suresh Gowda of the JD(S) and CS Shivalli of the Congress, promising them cash and ministerial posts as a reward for joining the party.
“They called MLAs and said by today or tomorrow, they will have 18 MLAs and move them to Mumbai. They called Suresh Gowda last night, saying it was an emergency and they wanted him to be the 19th member of the group,” Kumaraswamy said.
With an effective strength of 118, including the speaker, the Congress-JD(S) alliance has a simple majority in the assembly. The BJP, with 104 MLAs, was unable to push past the halfway mark in the recently concluded state elections.
Criticising former chief minister and BJP state chief BS Yeddyurappa’s statements on Wednesday, where he said the party would not do anything to destabilise the government, Kumaraswamy said approaches were being made for the coalition’s MLAs by the party. “But Suresh Gowda was called… I get every bit of information,” he said.