07-25-2008, 02:43 AM
<b>Congress has last laugh in Karnataka</b>
Statesman News Service
BANGALORE, July 23: The Congress party in the state is laughing the loudest at the discomfiture of the BJP which saw three of its MPs from Karnataka either voting with the UPA government on the confidence vote or abstaining.
Even as the Central leadership of the BJP has been quick to punish the rebels, the cross voting by its MPs has embarrassed it no end.
More so, as it has given the local unit of the Congress enough reason to gloat at the discomfiture of its arch rival in a tit for tat situation.
For, around the start of this month, the BJP was able to woo three Congress MLAs into its fold, even giving two of them ministerial berths, while accommodating another as the chief of the slum board.
<b>
The sudden shift in the loyalty of its MLAs had taken the Congress by surprise, highlighting the sad state of affairs in the party particularly in the state unit.
Smarting at the humiliation, the Congress leadership was waiting for a chance to get back at its rival. The cross voting by BJP MPs, Mr HT Sangliana, and Manjunath Kunnur during the confidence vote provided the much needed relief to the Congress in the state. It got a bonus when another MP, Mrs Manorama Madhawaraj, decided to abstain from voting.</b>
It was the formidable Reddy brothers and their associate, Mr Sriramulu, who played a major role in engineering the defection of the Congress MLAs into the BJP camp. The luring of the Congress MLAs had come at a time when the BJP, which had managed to get only 110 seats in a house of 224, needed a few more numbers to gain majority. For this it had managed to get the support of six Independents. At the same time, the party remained uncertain as it feared that the Independents could be enticed to leave its fold. It was precisely to scuttle such attempts that the BJP successfully raided the Congress MLAs.
Yesterday's voting in the Lok Sabha, however, saw the BJP get a taste of its own medicine, much to the glee of the Congress.
Statesman News Service
BANGALORE, July 23: The Congress party in the state is laughing the loudest at the discomfiture of the BJP which saw three of its MPs from Karnataka either voting with the UPA government on the confidence vote or abstaining.
Even as the Central leadership of the BJP has been quick to punish the rebels, the cross voting by its MPs has embarrassed it no end.
More so, as it has given the local unit of the Congress enough reason to gloat at the discomfiture of its arch rival in a tit for tat situation.
For, around the start of this month, the BJP was able to woo three Congress MLAs into its fold, even giving two of them ministerial berths, while accommodating another as the chief of the slum board.
<b>
The sudden shift in the loyalty of its MLAs had taken the Congress by surprise, highlighting the sad state of affairs in the party particularly in the state unit.
Smarting at the humiliation, the Congress leadership was waiting for a chance to get back at its rival. The cross voting by BJP MPs, Mr HT Sangliana, and Manjunath Kunnur during the confidence vote provided the much needed relief to the Congress in the state. It got a bonus when another MP, Mrs Manorama Madhawaraj, decided to abstain from voting.</b>
It was the formidable Reddy brothers and their associate, Mr Sriramulu, who played a major role in engineering the defection of the Congress MLAs into the BJP camp. The luring of the Congress MLAs had come at a time when the BJP, which had managed to get only 110 seats in a house of 224, needed a few more numbers to gain majority. For this it had managed to get the support of six Independents. At the same time, the party remained uncertain as it feared that the Independents could be enticed to leave its fold. It was precisely to scuttle such attempts that the BJP successfully raided the Congress MLAs.
Yesterday's voting in the Lok Sabha, however, saw the BJP get a taste of its own medicine, much to the glee of the Congress.