Ahead of the trust vote of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka on Monday, Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao on Sunday said the party has not received any proposal seeking Siddaramaiah to become the next Chief Minister of Karnataka.
"That's all false rumours. All these are spread by a few people. There is no such proposal. The Congress party has not received any such proposal, nor are we thinking of any such suggestion," Rao told ANI here.
His statement comes after JD(S) leaders GT Devegowda, K. L. Shivalinge Gowda, Sa Ra Mahesh and CS Puttaraju met Siddaramaiah with a proposal for the latter to head the state, sources said.
Siddaramaiah, however, denied the proposal, sources added.
Rao, along with other Congress leaders, attended the party's legislative meeting at Taj Vivanta hotel, where they also celebrated senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge's birthday.
"We had a legislative party informal meeting. Siddaramaiah, Mallikarjun Kharge, Venugopal, Deputy Chief Minister - all were present. MLAs are very enthusiastic and full of spirit. We are going for tomorrow's vote of confidence with lots of confidence and I am sure we will emerge as the winner. We also discussed what will happen in the Supreme Court tomorrow," Rao said.
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"Tomorrow on the floor of the House we will expose the BJP - their thousand crores 'Operation Kamala'. Where did this much money come from? We have heard tapes of Murlidhar Rao speaking. We have heard tapes of Yeddyurappa speaking to MLAs offering Rs 20-30 crores. So, this is more than a thousand crore operation. Is this democracy? Is this what people want? All this should be questioned tomorrow on the floor of the house," he added.
According to sources, GT Devegowda, K. L. Shivalinge Gowda, Sa Ra Mahesh and CS Puttaraju met Siddaramaiah and Water Minister DK Shivakumar and conveyed a message that Congress can hold the Chief Minister's post, while JD(S) will be a part of the Cabinet and keep BJP away from holding the government.
The leaders mentioned Siddaramaiah in priority for the Chief Minister's post, sources shared and added that Kharge, G Parameshwara and Shivakumar's names were also taken up for the post as options if Siddaramaiah doesn't agree to become the Chief Minister.
The intention is simple - to keep BJP away and hold positions with JD(S) and Congress - sources shared.
Besides Congress, BJP and JD(S) also held legislative party meeting at Ramada Hotel and Prestige Golfshire resort, respectively.
The coalition partners are now looking after all the options to save the government as Congress leader MLA Ramalinga Reddy, who was amongst the dissident legislators, has confirmed that he will remain in the party and vote in favour of Karnataka coalition government in the state Assembly.
On the other hand, rebel Congress and JDS MLAs have sent one more video to convey their message that their decision is firm and they will not return back to Bengaluru to attend the Assembly session.