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Bengaluru: The meeting called by Karnataka Chief Minister over the ongoing Mekedatu dam issue began on a rather humorous note when the Congress and the BJP leaders decided to pull each other's leg, before the more pressing matter could be discussed.
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy called a meeting with the former chief ministers and former ministers of water resources to discuss an ‘amicable solution’ with the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu in connection with the Mekedatu reservoir issue.
Senior leaders of both the Congress and the BJP present in the meeting had a good laugh over a speculative Operation Kamala, a term used to define the BJP's alleged attempts to topple the coalition government by getting MLAs from the other side to theirs in return for money and plum positions.
"You have decided to take him along," DK Shivakumar asked BJP leader KS Eshwarappa while the latter was speaking to another Congress leader, MB Patil. "He (Eshwarappa) has an eye on you," Shivakumar told MB Patil.
Eshwarappa who was sitting between HK Patil and MB Patil quipped, "Do you think it will be even one per cent successful? It may be possible with HK Patil but do you think it's possible with MB Patil?”
MB Patil and HK Patil, both former Ministers in the Siddaramaiah government, are among some of the senior Congress leaders who were denied cabinet berths during its formation. The former had also expressed his disappointment over it repeatedly since the coalition government came to power.
The possibility of the disgruntled MLAs switching sides and toppling the government is a challenge that the coalition government has been staring at every time the talks of cabinet expansion comes up.
(With inputs from Janardhana Hebbar)
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