BJP playing old game of poaching MLAs, says Mamata Banerjee as two legislators quit Congress-JD(S) govt in Karnataka

Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on Tuesday that in Karnataka, the BJP was playing its old game of poaching legislators of other parties.

Earlier in the day, the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government in Karnataka, led by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, suffered a jolt, with two MLAs withdrawing support to the seven-month-old ministry. There were charges of horse-trading flung at each other by both the ruling coalition and the BJP.

“It won’t look nice for me to comment on the situation there. There are local leaders,” Banerjee said.

Asked about allegations that the BJP was poaching other leaders, the Trinamool Congress supremo said, “This is an old game… there is nothing new. There had been similar things in some parts of Northeast and Goa.”

The BJP has behaved like this earlier, Banerjee added.

Independent MLA H Nagesh and R Shankar of the Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) wrote to state Governor Vajubhai Vala, conveying their decision to withdraw support from the Kumaraswamy government with immediate effect.