BJP's bid to topple Karnataka government fails, says Congress Minister

The Bharatiya Janata Party's bid to topple Karnataka's coalition government by poaching Congress legislators has failed, Congress leader G. Parameshwara said on Wednesday.

"All the Congress legislators are with us and everything is all right in the party. Some legislators may be away, but they will be back in Bengaluru soon," the Deputy Chief Minister told the media here.

The BJP's alleged 'Operation Lotus' to poach the Congress legislators has come to an end, he asserted.

"The drama of 'Operation Kamala' (lotus) has ended. No attempt to destabilise the coalition government will be effective as we have the support of all our legislators," the Congress leader stressed.

A Congress Legislature Party meet chaired by Siddaramaiah will be held on January 18 in the city, he added.

The meeting will discuss the state Budget that will be presented in February, Parameshwara said.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy also maintained that the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S)-Congress coalition government was functioning well.

"Our coalition government is running smoothly. I am relaxed. We are in touch with all our legislators and have their support," Kumaraswamy told the media earlier.

The southern state's ruling coalition partners JD-S-Congress and the opposition BJP have been trading charges of poaching each others' legislators for the past few days. -IANS