Former BJP minister BC Patil and ex-MLA Narasimha Naik met Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar amid rumours of 'Operation Hasta'.
Published Sep 04, 2023 | 12:52 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 04, 2023 | 12:52 PM
BC Patil, Narasimha Naik met DK Shivakumar amid rumours of "Operation Hasta". (Facebook)
During the birthday celebration of renowned Kannada actor Sudeep Sanjeev, better known by his stage name Kiccha Sudeep, former BJP minister BC Patil and ex-MLA Narasimha Naik met Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
This comes amid rumours that “Operation Hasta” was being conducted in Karnataka to persuade BJP leaders to join the Congress.
However, on Sunday, 3 September, Patil and Naik ruled out the possibility of them quitting the saffron party and joining the Congress.
“Operation Hasta” is being projected as an attempt to make the leaders of opposition parties, mainly the BJP, join the Congress.
“Operation Hasta”, AKA “Operation Palm”, refers to the palm, which is the Congress’s party symbol.
It is said to be in retaliation to the BJP’s “Operation Lotus”, of allegedly toppling a government and installing a dispensation headed by it — as it had happened in 2019 when the JD(S)-Congress coalition government collapsed due to the disqualification of 17 MLAs of the ruling alliance.
Patil and Naik said that their meeting with Shivakumar in a five-star hotel was a sheer coincidence and an unexpected one. “It was an unexpected meeting. I did not expect that Shivakumar would come there,” Patil told reporters.
Naik too clarified that he has no plans to quit the BJP and join the Congress. “There is no question of undergoing any ‘operation’ because I am neither suffering from cancer nor a tumour. Also, I don’t have any disease. There is no situation to go to any doctor,” he said.
He said that Sudeep had thrown a party in a hotel on Saturday, where the BJP leaders had gathered.
Naik, however, admitted that there is discontent in the BJP and he had raised it in the party meeting recently.
Explaining further, he said that during the recent meeting, he had told senior party leaders to appoint a Leader of the Opposition and constitute a team with a new state BJP president. It will help the party gear up for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Naik said.
According to him, people are eager to vote for the BJP in the Parliamentary election and the delay in the appointment may drive people away from the party, which should not happen.
In an attempt to bring about unity in the Karnataka BJP unit grappling with a leadership crisis, the party’s national General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santhosh called for a meeting on Thursday, 31 August. Several leaders stayed away from the meeting, exposing the gnawing issues in the BJP post its poll debacle in the state.
Even as he pushed for unity, disgruntled leaders claimed they weren’t intimated about the meeting in advance.
Former chief ministers BS Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai, former deputy chief minister KS Eshwarappa, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, Padmanabhanagar MLA R Ashok and Mahalakshmi Layout MLA K Gopalaiah, and other leaders from Shivamogga district skipped the meeting, citing personal commitments.
Some others, including Yeshwanthpur MLA ST Somashekhar, Yellapur MLA Shivaram Hebbar, and former MLA MP Renukacharya reportedly distanced themselves from the meeting.
BL Santhosh sprang a surprise at the meeting by reportedly saying that 40 to 45 Congress MLAs were in contact with him and, if the high command gives the nod, “it is just a one-day job”.
Santhosh made the statement amidst talks of the Congress planning to welcome disgruntled BJP leaders in what has been touted as “Operation Hasta”.
Naik admitted that the party has been seeing a downfall after removing BJP stalwart BS Yediyurappa from the post of chief minister in July 2021.
“After removing BS Yediyurappa from the post of chief minister, to some extent our downfall started, which did not pick up again. There is no second thought about it. Now, Yediyurappa is at the forefront. Vijayendra (Yediyurappa’s son) is also there. Yediyurappa is doing his job of building the party,” he added.
The former MLA said that Yediyurappa speaks over the phone twice a week to all leaders who lost the election.
“He (Yediyurappa) talks to us just like a father, just like the head of the family speaks to the children. Yediyurappa is not sitting idle. He is trying to solve our problems. He is also talking to all of us. We will contest the election under his leadership,” Naik said.
Criticising the party’s high command following the meeting held by Santhosh, MP Renukacharya said, “The high command sidelined Lingayat strongman BS Yediyurappa during the elections. I am not afraid of anyone; I speak only the truth.”
“The party slapped me with a notice for speaking in favour of Yediyurappa and asked me to reply within seven days. I did not turn up for the meeting because of this notice. The conspiracies are being hatched within the party against Yediyurappa with the sole intention of sidelining him,” charged the former MLA.
Meanwhile, a war of words broke out between Karnataka Infrastructure Development Minister MB Patil and former BJP Minister CN Ashwath Narayan over “Operation Hasta”.
Narayan alleged that the Congress is trying to blackmail the BJP leaders. “Today, Congress is a sinking ship. It has no future. They are trying to blackmail us by saying that these people are joining our party. They (Congress) will fail,” he said.
He also said that no one should draw any conclusion based on someone meeting with people in power.
Reacting to the blackmailing jibe, Patil said, “It means BJP people have done something, which makes them prone to blackmailing. You can be blackmailed only if you have done something. Now, Ashwath Narayan has spelt out the truth.”
A few days ago, former BJP ministers ST Somashekar and Arbail Shivaram Hebbar, and former BJP MLA MP Renukacharya met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar.
Somashekar, Hebbar and Patil were among the 13 disqualified Congress MLAs in 2019, who had resigned from their party and the Karnataka Assembly, bringing down the coalition government.
Soon after the regime collapsed, the BJP came to power in Karnataka. The three leaders, along with other disqualified MLAs, joined the BJP, contested the bypolls, and became ministers in the new government.
Upset with the party’s high command over various reasons including not inviting them to the meeting, several BJP MLAs and former legislators distanced themselves from the party meeting.
On why he did not turn up for the meeting with BL Santhosh, Hebbar told South First, “I have not received any invitation for the meeting either from Santhosh or the party. I will not attend such meetings uninvited.”
“I would not like to comment on leaving the party. Have already made many statements to the media that I have no plans of quitting the BJP,” Hebbar added.
(With PTI inputs)
