Congress, JD-S accuse BJP of poaching MLAs after purported video surfaces

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], Nov 2 (ANI): After a purported video of Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa surfaced, Congress and JD-S on Saturday accused the BJP of having misused government agencies for allegedly poaching their MLAs in the state.
"I think you all are aware of the latest video of BS Yediyurappa related to poaching of Congress and JD-S MLAs. We have always said that BJP is misusing government agencies to poach MLAs, now it's established beyond doubt. We will approach the Supreme Court with the evidence," Congress general secretary KC Venugopal told reporter here.
Former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, who headed the coalition government for 14 months, said people will judge the BJP.
"How the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) misused power and money was exposed yesterday. Now people have to judge them," he said.
Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah also attacked the BJP, saying what the party had done was "a conspiracy to murder democracy and a violation of the Constitution".
He also said the Chief Minister has no right to hold a constitutional post.
In the video that has gone viral, Yediyurappa purportedly says that the decision of the 17 JD-S and Congress MLAs to resign, which led to the fall of the HD Kumaraswamy-led government in July, was taken by the central leadership of the BJP and that party workers should honour the "sacrifice" of the rebel MLAs.
The video was allegedly shot during his meeting with party leaders in Hubali on October 26.
"Today, I did not feel that you people are trying to save this government after the way you spoke... We did not speak about the issue of disqualified MLAs till now because we are expecting the Supreme Court judgement. We are expecting they may get relief from the court and they will get chance to contest," he is heard saying in the video.
Following their resignations, a number of Congress and JDS MLAs stayed at a hotel in Mumbai. Yediyurappa took oath as Chief Minister on July 26 after the coalition government led by Kumaraswamy failed to win the trust vote.
The Supreme Court last month reserved its verdict on petitions of 15 Karnataka MLAs challenging their disqualification by the state Assembly Speaker ahead of a floor test in June this year.
The 17 MLAs were disqualified in July by then Karnataka Assembly speaker Ramesh Kumar and were barred from contesting polls for the duration of the assembly which ends in 2023.
The Election Commission had earlier deferred the assembly bypolls in Karnataka to December 5 as the case pertaining to the disqualification of 17 MLAs was being heard in the Supreme Court. (ANI)