A day ahead of a precedent setting second trust vote, the BJP may be back to its bad old ways. Critical of the opposition Janata Dal(S) for trying to wean BJP legislators away from the saffron fold, insiders say that both the food and civil supplies minister V. Somanna and mining magnate and state tourism minister Janardhan Reddy were put in-charge of "Operation Kamala-III" for the crucial second trust vote in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
"We will adopt a two-pronged strategy, first to woo back our disgruntled Legislators. At the same time, we will create a reserve of another half a dozen legislators, from both JD(S) and Congress party kitty. I will ensure their absence during the vote of confidence," source quoted Mr Reddy as saying.
The mine baron held a press conference on Wednesday with his first scalp, the independent MLA Varthur Prakash by his side.
Mr Prakash had abandoned the BJP as he did not get a cabinet berth, and is one of six Independents who had been brought in through "Operation Kamala I", which boosted the BJP to 117.