Operation Hasta: K'taka Congress planning to rope in prominent BJP leaders ahead of LS polls

Bengaluru, Aug 16:  Karnataka Congress is planning to pull prominent BJP leaders into its fold ahead of the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha election in the state.

Under the exercise -- named 'Operation Hasta’ (Hasta meaning hand in Kannada) -- the Congress is looking to deliver a lethal blow to the BJP ahead of next year's Lok Sabha elections.

Under ‘Operation Hasta’, the Congress will try to rope in senior BJP leaders into its fold, and if sources are to be believed, former BJP ministers S.T. Somashekar and M.T.B. Nagaraj are likely to join the grand old party. Both the leaders were in the Congress and had joined the BJP after it had launched ‘Operation Lotus’ in the state.

Somashekar, who is the sitting BJP MLA from Yeshwanthpur, had recently announced at a public function that Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is his ‘guru’ (mentor).

He had also said that whatever he has achieved politically was due to the blessings of Shivakumar. His remarks had embarrassed the BJP, which is in bad shape following the humiliating defeat in the recently-held Assembly elections.

Former minister M.T.B. Nagaraj belongs to the Kuruba community and has made his displeasure public by saying that after joining the BJP, he is not able to win elections.

Sources close to Nagaraj said that he had joined the BJP quitting his position as a Cabinet minister, but the BJP failed to address his interests and did not allot him the ministry of his choice.

Former minister N. Muniratna, BJP MLA from RR Nagar, who had also left the Congress and joined the BJP, clarified that he would retire from politics rather than joining  the Congress again.

“I won’t knock on the doors of Congress. I will also not try to convince any leader. If anyone wants to quit BJP, it will be their decision. I can only wish good luck to them. Out of the 17 leaders who joined the BJP from Congress and JD (S), I don’t know about rest, but I can assure about myself that I am not going back,” he said.

Senior leader H. Vishwanath, who had also joined the BJP from the Congress, has already said that he will return to Congress. 

Sources said that Deputy CM Shivakumar has taken a special interest in ‘Operation Hasta’.

When asked about ‘Operation Hasta’, Shivakumar said that Congress' main aim is the Lok Sabha elections.

“We have given directions to the party workers not to pursue hate politics and to increase the vote share of the party. At the grassroots level, there is a need for adjustment in politics.

“It is a decision left to the local leaders as to who they want to invite into the party fold. Where Congress is week in the state, the decision will be taken in the interest of the party,” he said.