BJP leader approached me to support BSY: H Vishwanath

Team Udayavani, Nov 16, 2019, 9:25 AM IST

Bengaluru: Disqualified MLA H Vishwanath said that the former Congress leader and now BJP MP Srinivas Prasad had approached him and said he should lead the team to bring back Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to run the state government.

Addressing party workers on Friday Vishwanath said, “One day, BJP MP Srinivas Prasad called me and said he wanted to speak to me about Operation Lotus.”

“Srinivas also told me that I should lead the team to bring BS Yediyurappa to the chief ministerial post. I agreed to it. He told me to lead the team of all the leaders who are disqualified. After that, everything happened and people also know about it,” he added.

Vishwanath is among the 13 disqualified MLAs who have been named in the first list of BJP candidates for the upcoming by-elections in the state scheduled to be held on December 5. The party has fielded Vishwanath from Hunsur.

16 out of 17 rebel MLAs joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday at the party headquarters in Bengaluru.

In a grand event that took place at the party headquarters in Bengaluru, CM BS Yediyurappa handed over the party flag to the rebel MLAs, who were formerly with the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), to welcome them to the party.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the disqualification of 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs in Karnataka on orders of the Speaker but allowed them to contest the December 5 bypolls.

The court struck down the portion of the Speaker’s order by which the legislators were disqualified till the end of the 15th Karnataka Assembly.

The apex court’s verdict paved way for the disqualified MLAs to contest the December 5 bypolls in Karnataka.

A three-judge bench of justices N V Ramana, Sanjiv Khanna and Krishna Murari said if elected in bypolls, these disqualified MLAs can become ministers or hold public office.

The bench deprecated the manner in which the disqualified MLAs directly approached it without first moving the high court.

The court said its verdict is based on facts and circumstance of the case and does not interfere in the Speaker’s power to disqualify members.

The top court passed the verdict on petitions filed by these disqualified MLAs.