Siddaramaiah warns BJP against Operation Lotus 2.0, says BJP in state of 'Coma'
Bengaluru, Oct 28: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah Sunday hit out at the BJP for predicting that the JDS-Congress government would fall and warned it against indulging in 'Operation Lotus' again, saying the saffron party was already in a state of "coma" due to its past deeds.
Siddaramaiah is the head of the Congress-JD(S) coalition co-ordination committee.
'Operation Lotus' is a reference to the BJP allegedly luring several opposition MLAs to defect to ensure stability of its then-government headed by B S Yeddyurappa in 2008.
"Yeddyurappa (now state BJP chief) has once again made a statement that the government would fall. Already due to several rounds of operations, the lotus (BJP symbol) in Karnataka is in coma. Now once again don't try your hands into the wrong adventure of Operation Lotus," he said in a tweet.
The Congress leader asserted that the BJP would remain as an opposition party in the state.
Siddaramaiah's tweet came in response to repeated comments by Yeddyurappa and other BJP leaders expressing doubts about the continuance of the coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy ever since it came to power in May this year after the elections threw up a hung assembly.
'Operation Lotus' refers to the BJP's strategy during Yeddyurappa's previous tenure as the chief minister when it made several MLAs of other parties to resign and contest the elections on the party's ticket and win to strengthen its numbers in the assembly.
Congress and JD(S) have accused the BJP of attempting to destabilise the coalition government by trying to poach their MLAs, a charge denied by the saffron party.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
