operation lotus

Seven Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha members resigned, widening a rift that began with Swati Maliwal's assault allegations. Raghav Chadha's removal as deputy leader signaled deepening internal divides. While some cited ED/CBI fears and corruption, others like Ashok Mittal faced ED raids, fueling speculation about the BJP's 'operation lotus'.

A significant rift within the Aam Aadmi Party has led to a major exodus, with seven AAP MPs joining the BJP. This leaves the party with only three members in the Rajya Sabha, including leader Sanjay Singh, who has denounced the defectors as 'traitors' amidst allegations of 'operation lotus' targeting the Punjab government.

Seven Rajya Sabha MPs, led by Raghav Chadha, have defected from AAP to the BJP, significantly boosting the ruling party's numbers to 113 and reducing AAP to just three members. This move weakens the opposition bloc's strength to 77, marking a substantial shift in the Upper House's political landscape and impacting AAP's national presence.

The AAP, as expected, reacted very strongly to this development and accused the BJP of “operation lotus”, a term used to define saffron party engineered defections of political rivals. AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged that central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were misused to pressure and break away AAP leaders. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of betraying Punjab, which is ruled by AAP and goes to assembly polls next year.

Aam Aadmi Party faces a significant internal crisis as Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha leads a mass exodus of seven MPs to the Bharatiya Janata Party. This move, following Chadha's removal as deputy leader, marks a severe blow to AAP's presence in Parliament and raises questions about its core principles.

Raghav Chadha's defection from AAP to BJP, along with six other Rajya Sabha members, significantly weakens the party's parliamentary strength and national positioning. This move, which qualifies as a merger under anti-defection rules, erodes AAP's credibility and its ability to represent Punjab's interests nationally, potentially impacting upcoming elections.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar alleged that four individuals attempted to bribe eight Odisha Congress legislators with Rs 5 crore each to secure cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections. Police have arrested two BJP members, Birendra Prasad and Byatarayanapura Suresh, in connection with the incident, based on a complaint filed by an Odisha Congress MLA.

(This story originally appeared in BangaloreMirror on September 13, 2019)

The JD(S)-Congress government in Karnataka can heave a sigh of relief as the BJP unit here has temporarily suspended its operation lotus aimed at toppling the coalition government.

The ruling BJP resumed operation lotus -- poaching of opposition MLAs -- with JD(S) MLA from Koppal Karadi Sanganna resigning his assembly membership on Thursday.

When booths in Channapatna, Jagalur and Bangarpet open for voting on Saturday at 8am, it's another opportunity for the ruling BJP to seek a referendum from the electorate on its operation lotus.

Former chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Thursday admitted that operation lotus is the reason for the present turmoil in the party.

After a stormy start, the special session of Delhi assembly was adjourned till Thursday following sloganeering by AAP and BJP MLAs and, later, storming of the well. AAP MLAs burnt an effigy marked "operation lotus" on the assembly premises, which was condemned by BJP.

Faced with flak from party cadres, the state BJP head honchos, for the time being, have put brakes on operation lotus...

The BJP, which has ensured stability in the assembly through operation lotus, has now cast its eyes on the fast-approaching Lok Sabha elections.

BJP shifted its 104 MLAs to the National Capital Region over the last two days even as CM HD Kumaraswamy alleged that as part of 'operation lotus 3:0', the opposition party was conspiring to poach Congress-JD(S) MLAs to dislodge his government. But to thwart any counter-action by Congress-JD(S), the MLAs were shifted to Gurgaon hotel and will now miss the Sankranti fervour.

The Congress and the BJP on Wednesday called 'operation lotus' claims made by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab as a bid to divert attention from the party's failures in the state, including the recent furore over illegal mining along the Pakistan border.

The district unit of Congress protested against operation lotus at Siruguppa taluk on Monday.

No more bad days for the BJP government in Karnataka. At least that's what BS Yeddyurappa chooses to believe. On Monday, the chief minister said his government will not resort to operation lotus (poaching of MLAs from opposition parties) anymore because it enjoys absolute majority in the assembly.

"The BJP did a mistake in taking up operation lotus based on caste, money and muscle power and lost control of the political process.

JD(S) leaders and workers arranged a rally in the main streets of the city on Saturday as a mark of protest against the BJP's activites as part of operation lotus.

After storming into a meeting of dissident MLAs late on Wednesday night and catching them red-handed, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has organised a trial of strength at his residence on Friday.