Karnataka Congress MLA fell for BJP's 'Operation Kamala': Siddaramaiah

Umesh Jadhav, Karnataka's "rebel" Congress MLA who resigned from the state Assembly, fell prey to the BJP's 'Operation Kamala', party leader Siddaramaiah said on Tuesday.

"The circumstantial evidence clearly suggests that he (Jadhav) has fallen for #OperationKamala (referring to alleged poaching attempts by the BJP)," the former Chief Minister said in a series of tweets.

"People are saying that he has sold himself for money and power. If true, it is shameful on his part," he added.

Jadhav, a two-time MLA from Chincholi constituency in Kalaburagi district, submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar on Monday without any explanation.

Hours later, G. Madhusudhan, the state spokesman for the Bharatiya Janata Party, told IANS that Jadhav would join the right-wing party on Wednesday at Kalaburagi where Prime Minister Narendra Modi would address a massive rally. The Speaker is yet to accept Jadhav's resignation.

"We had already petitioned to disqualify four MLAs, including Jadhav, as per anti-defection law for involving in anti-party activities. Resignation cannot be accepted without deciding our petition. Let us leave it to the speaker to decide," Siddaramaiah said in another tweet on Tuesday.

Jadhav's resignation came in the wake of the southern state's ruling coalition partners Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress and the opposition BJP trading charges of poaching each others' legislators since January.