How long will this govt last?

Bengaluru: Either there's really an Operation Kamala 3 underway or the BJP doesn't have the numbers to crow from the rooftops as yet. As the tortuous political developments of 2018 drew to a close, a new war of words broke out between the Congress and the BJP broke out with the former saying that the latter was trying to lure its MLAs and making an attempt to topple the coalition government, and the state BJP leaders claiming there was no such move from their side to topple the government.

However, sources in the BJP said that the party central leaders have pressured the state leaders to distance themselves from any plans to bring down the H.D.Kumaraswamy government, so that in the event that it does topple, the BJP will have its hands clean.

A day after Siddaramaiah claimed that his MLAs were offered Rs 25-30 crore, Mr Yeddyurappa not only countered his statement rather he said that BJP need not do anything as the contradiction within the coalition would bring down the government while refusing to even be pinned down on forming a government with the help of Congress MLAs.

“I will come back to discuss with you (media) once the MLAs resign. Mr Siddaramaiah should not make irresponsible statements," Mr Yeddyurappa told reporters, adding that anything could happen in politics.

However, sources said that Mr Yeddyurappa who was in Delhi till Saturday evening, returned on Sunday. “They have kept the state leaders out of the loop. Two Belagavi BJP MLAs, Umesh Katti and Balachandra Jarkiholi seem to be the pointsmen of the BJP central leaders. Mr Balachandra Jarkiholi, the younger brother of Ramesh Jarkiholi, is the bridge between the BJP and disgruntled Congress MLAs," sources in the BJP said.

Siddu, DVS in Twitter war

Bengaluru: A twitter war between two former CMs, Siddaramaiah and D.V. Sadananda Gowda broke out on Monday over the issue of Siddaramaiah's charge of BJP attempting to bring down the coalition government.

Mr Siddaramaiah took a dig at a tweet of Mr Sadananda Gowda and pointed out that he (Mr Gowda) could not complete the rest of the term given to BJP. In reply, Mr Gowda attacked Mr Siddaramaiah and reminded him how he lost Chamundeshwari, how his party did not come to power.

Mr Gowda took a dig at Mr Siddaramaiah and said, “Please let me know if you get the opposition leader's post in the ruling coalition.”