Bengaluru, Aug 14: Senior BJP legislator Basanagouda Patil Yatnal on Monday claimed that Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka will collapse before Lok Sabha polls next year, as about 25 legislators from the ruling party are ready to quit.

The MLA from Bijapur (Vijayapura) City also expressed hope that the BJP will once again come back to power.

''Congress which says it has got 135 seats is unable to sleep; if 30 people go out, the government will fall. 25 people are ready. Some Ministers are behaving as though they have got all powers and are removing or transferring officials,'' Yatnal, a former Union Minister, said addressing a crowd here.

Alleging that Muslim officials are being posted in Vijayapura, he asked ''what can you do by bringing in Muslims? I'm an MLA and they should abide by me....If any official plays any drama to oppress Hindus...We will come back in January. You guarantee...it is till March. You will be out before Lok Sabha (polls).''

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''That's the reason both Ministers from Vijayapura, who were behaving as though they were flying high after coming to power, have now toned down.... they have realised that 35-40 people are ready. If 30-35 people are ready the government will go,'' he added.

Pointing to comments made by senior Congress MLAs like Basavaraj Rayareddy expressing displeasure about Karnataka becoming a ''corrupt state'' and disgruntlement expressed during the recent legislature party meet regarding the functioning of Ministers, Yatnal said, ''their own MLAs are speaking out.''

''What they (Congress leaders) want is money, because they have spent during the election...''he said, alleging that large scale corruption in transfers and lack of funds for development due to 'guarantee schemes' (poll promises) have upset MLAs. It can also be recalled that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar too had recently claimed that a plot was being hatched in Singapore to topple the government.

 

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Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday described the Waqf (Amendment) Bill as “anti-secular”, claiming that it would snatch the rights of Muslims.

Banerjee, speaking in the assembly, also said the Centre did not consult with states over the matter.

“The bill is anti-federal and anti-secular; it is a deliberate attempt to malign a particular section. It will snatch the rights of Muslims... The Centre did not consult with us on the Waqf Bill,” she said.

The chief minister added that “if any religion was attacked”, she would wholeheartedly condemn it.

Opposition parties have stridently criticised the amendments proposed by the bill in the existing Waqf Act, alleging that they violate the religious rights of Muslims.

The ruling BJP has asserted that the amendments will bring transparency in the functioning of the Waqf boards and make them accountable.

A parliamentary committee has been constituted to scrutinise the contentious bill.