Karnataka Water Resource minister D K Shivakumar Sunday said the BJP's 'Operation Lotus' to topple the state's coalition government was for real, alleging that three Congress MLAs were camping in a hotel in Mumbai in the "company of some BJP leaders".
"Horse trading is going on in the state. Three of our MLAs are in Mumbai in a hotel with some BJP MLAs and leaders. We are aware of what has transpired there and how much has been offered to them," he said.
Operation Lotus is a reference to the BJP allegedly luring several opposition MLAs to defect to ensure stability of its then-government headed by B S Yeddyurappa in Karnataka in 2008.
Shivakumar, who had earned the reputation of being a "trouble-shooter" in the Congress for bailing out the party from many crises in the past, accused Chief Minister
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