Vijayapura: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday that failing to gain the trust and confidence of the people, the BJP is trying to ‘purchase’ MLAs under Operation Lotus.

Reacting to state BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra and former CM Jagdish Shettar’s remarks that many leaders from the Congress are asking them to be inducted into the BJP, Siddaramaiah said they (the BJP) have done the same twice in the past.

“Since 2008, former CMs B.S. Yeddiurappa and Basavaraja Bommai have done the same. They try to buy MLAs from everywhere with an eye on forming the government,” he said.

“People of the state have never given complete majority to the BJP. In 2008, 2013 and 2018, the BJP didn’t achieve majority. The Congress won in 2013. While we lost in 2018, we again won in 2023 by securing 136 seats. The Congress comes to power based on the trust and judgement of the people. But the BJP only comes to power through Operation Lotus,” the Chief Minister said.

Reacting to Vijayendra’s demand that the Hanuman Dhwaja case in Mandya should be handed over to the CBI, the CM said, “They had taken permission from the Keragodu gram panchayat to hoist only the national flag and the Kannada flag, but they hoisted the saffron flag instead.

“They have no respect for the national flag. The national flag is the symbol of the identity of 140 crore people of India. Those who do not agree with hoisting the national flag claim to be patriots.”