The BJP is engineering defections to overthrow governments in states ruled by the opposition parties, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said a day after 11 lawmakers of the Congress-JDS coalition in Karnataka resigned. It is the BJP who took to Mumbai in a private jet and kept them in a five-star hotel on Saturday night, the party said.
The latest round of resignations takes the number of exits from the ruling alliance to 14. All took place after Janata Dal Secular chief and Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy went to US on a private visit after the Lok Sabha elections. The Chief Minister and state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, who was also away, are rushing back to Bengaluru.

"The BJP is trying to sabotage non-BJP governments. They want to weaken regional parties. This is not right... The centre is directly involved in the turmoil..." said Mr Kharge, as the Congress-Janata Dal Secular coalition government in Karnataka appears to be teetering on the edge of collapse.

Alleging that the legislators were taken away by the BJP in a special flight, Mr Kharge said the party is in still in touch with them. "We will get a clear picture on the July 12," he added. The assembly session starts that day.

The BJP is engineering defections to overthrow governments in states ruled by the opposition parties, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said a day after 11 lawmakers of the Congress-JDS coalition in Karnataka resigned. It is the BJP who took to Mumbai in a private jet and kept them in a five-star hotel on Saturday night, the party said.
The latest round of resignations takes the number of exits from the ruling alliance to 14. All took place after Janata Dal Secular chief and Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy went to US on a private visit after the Lok Sabha elections. The Chief Minister and state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, who was also away, are rushing back to Bengaluru.

"The BJP is trying to sabotage non-BJP governments. They want to weaken regional parties. This is not right... The centre is directly involved in the turmoil..." said Mr Kharge, as the Congress-Janata Dal Secular coalition government in Karnataka appears to be teetering on the edge of collapse.

Alleging that the legislators were taken away by the BJP in a special flight, Mr Kharge said the party is in still in touch with them. "We will get a clear picture on the July 12," he added. The assembly session starts that day.