With all eyes on the Supreme Court for the hearing on Tuesday on the question of Congress and JD(S) MLAs who have resigned, the big task for the BJP is to ensure that they do not sway.
“Now, before the trust vote, the battle is over the mind space of the rebel MLAs. The coalition is trying hard to threaten them with disqualification for defection if they do not turn up for the trust vote, which they hope will get them back in the fold. But the momentum is with us,” claimed a senior BJP leader close to the party’s State president B.S. Yeddyurappa. “This is a time when power swings loyalties. The trick is to convince the rebels and those with potential to cross over that we are coming to power or retaining power as is the case with BJP and the coalition respectively. Both are in the same game,” he said.
While the BJP is keeping its flock together in a resort on the city’s outskirts, they have been constantly in touch with the rebel MLAs to counter any influence by the coalition. “Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, counsel for the rebel MLAs in the Supreme Court, is said to have briefed them on the legal aspects. Several other legal luminaries from the State have spoken to them, assuring them that it is legally not possible to disqualify them for defection, a senior leader overseeing the legal aspects said. “The MLAs seem to have crossed a point of no return. However, we need to be careful as in times like these, the situation is always dynamic,” he said.