New Delhi: After 16 out of total 17 disqualified Congress and JD(S) MLAs of the Karnataka Assembly joined Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Congress General Secretary Mallikarjun Kharge, on Friday, said, "BJP is just ridiculing the Constitution and moving away with the oath it has taken to strengthen the democracy."
The BJP on Thursday released the first list of candidates for the upcoming December 5 Karnataka by-polls figuring the names of 13 MLAs, who were disqualified earlier this year, from the Congress-JD(S) camp.
The names were declared a day after the Supreme Court upheld their disqualification but said they can fight elections. The rebel MLAs joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa here.
Hitting out at BJP for 'horse-trading' Congress-JD(S) MLAs, Kharge said, "BJP has promised earlier that it will give tickets to those MLAs who have joined BJP after quitting their own parties."
Calling it a 'game of money', Kharge said that he believes that the Bharatiya Janata party will get a 'befitting reply' from the citizens of Karnataka in the upcoming elections.
He further added, "Those MLAs got elected because people had faith in them and they were a part of the Indian National Congress. In the upcoming by-polls, not all disqualified MLAs will be elected back. It will be an exceptional case, if one or two among them, win."
Talking about ED's rejected plea against DK Shivakumar's bail plea, Kharge said, "It is good that Shivakumar got relief in his case. These are all BJP' tactics to harass the opposition parties for political vendetta."
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