Union Minister Pralhad Joshi alleges ''horse trading'' of Congress MLAs amid Karnataka power tussle

Hubballi (Karnataka), Nov 22 (PTI) Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday claimed that "horse trading" of Congress MLAs is underway in Karnataka amid the alleged power tussle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar.

He also claimed Shivakumar's visit to jailed MLAs Vinay Kulkarni and K C Veerendra, also known as Puppy, in Bengaluru Central Prison was aimed at securing their support.

"There is infighting in Congress. Siddaramaiah does not want to leave the CM’s position, and Shivakumar does not want Siddaramaiah to continue as CM," Joshi told reporters here.

"Because of such a situation, both the camps are trying to purchase MLAs. You might have seen that Shivakumar has gone to jail to meet the MLAs to seek their support and pay whatever their price is," he added.

According to Joshi, the situation has reached a point where "horse trading" of Congress MLAs is going on. The administration in Karnataka "has collapsed due to the ongoing power tussle." "The state is witnessing misadministration as there is no one to address issues arising from excess rains and poor road infrastructure," the union minister claimed.

He also criticised Bengaluru police, once on par with Delhi and Mumbai, saying "daylight robberies are now common", without elaborating much.

"Because of political instability, lack of direction, guidance, and control over bureaucracy, the administration has totally collapsed. It is in doldrums," Joshi alleged.

On Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding a maize price crash due to the alleged import of 17.94 lakh metric tonnes, Joshi said the figures were false.

"The CM has spoken about the import of 17.94 lakh tonnes of maize. People are giving false information. It is most unfortunate that the chief minister is sharing figures without taking proper inputs. Last time, during the sugarcane agitation, he did the same, and when I responded, he had no answers," the union minister said.

Two years ago, he said, 9.5 lakh MT was imported due to low sugarcane production.

"This time, no import has happened. Between 50,000 tonnes and one lakh tonnes were imported because India also exports maize. There is no import happening this time. When we are exporting more and importing less, so it is all bogus things he (CM) is telling," he claimed. PTI GMS SSK GMS SSK ROH ADB