Bengaluru: Even as the JD(S)-Congress Coalition Government is struggling with dissidence in both the parties, the coalition partners are said to have decided to launch a counter plan to thwart BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ aimed at poaching MLAs from the ruling coalition.

To lend credence to the coalition’s counter plans, a photo of BJP MLA from Kanakagiri Basavaraj Dadesugur’s meeting with CM H.D. Kumaraswamy has gone viral.

The coalition partners are said to have set eyes on poaching BJP MLAs Dr. Shivaraj Patil of Raichur, who was previously with the JD(S), Siruguppa MLA Somalingappa and Surpur MLA Raju Gowda aka Narasimha Nayak.

JD(S) Minister Venkat Rao Nadagouda, who represents Sindhanur Assembly segment in Raichur district, is said to have taken the lead in the efforts to bring the four BJP MLAs into the coalition fold in the coming days.

With his name figuring in the list of BJP MLAs, who are likely to jump ship, Surpur MLA Raju Gowda said that he was in a hospital looking after his ailing mother and as such, he had switched off his mobile phone. This has led to rumours about his defection. However, there is no truth in the rumours that are doing the rounds and there was no question of him leaving the BJP.