Karnataka BJP MLAs were shifted to luxurious seven-star resort on in Gurugram on January 14 | Photo from ANI

It's been over three days since Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs from Karnataka were shifted to a luxurious seven-star resort on the outskirts of Gururgam in the national capital region. The MLAs say they are bored.

Speaking over the phone from inside the heavily guarded ITC Grand Bharat, Manesar, one of the legislators G Thippareddy told India Today TV, "We are clueless. Nobody is giving us the correct information. We are so bored that we are sitting and watching other MLAs play cricket in the hotel lawns."

OPERATION KAMALA 2.0

On Monday (January 14) evening, as news of an attempted Operation Kamala 2.0 spread, the BJP moved fast and decided to secure its 104 MLAs first. In 2008, the saffron party had successfully saved its government by engineering defections from rival camps. This time, the BJP had been emboldened with at least four Congress MLAs having gone "missing" as the latter's chief troubleshooter in Bengaluru, DK Sivakumar, claimed on Monday.

The BJP is the single largest party in the Karnataka legislative assembly but was stumped last May after the election results, when the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) (JDS) joined hands to form a coalition government. Since then, there have been whispers of the BJP trying to destabilise the government.

But 72 hours later, it appears Operation Kamala 2.0 has failed. It has definitely been interrupted by reports of Tumkur seer, Swami Shivakumara of Siddaganga Mutt, one of the tallest Lingayat leaders in the state, being seriously ill. Former state chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and colleague V Somanna rushed from ITC Grand Bharat last afternoon to reach Bengaluru, leaving behind their colleagues "clueless".

Congress general secretary BK Hariprasad told the media, "Operation Kamala has failed miserably. This was done to divert attention from Rafale. Modi and Shah planned this."

The Congress is unfazed despite two independent MLAs, H Nagesh and R Shankar, withdrawing support to the coalition government in Karnataka during this latest dramatic chapter in the state's politics. Their withdrawal has brought down the numbers for the alliance to 116 in the legislative assembly, where they need 113.

The BJP stands at 104. The Congress is also confident it's "missing" MLAs, spotted at Mumbai's Renaissance Hotel with BJP partypersons, will be present at the legislative party meeting in Bengaluru on Friday (January 18).

Visuals of BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa and other Karnataka BJP MLAs at hotel in Gurugram | Photo from ANI

Yeddyurappa meanwhile tried to put up a brave face.

"We neither carried out any operation or tried to poach from the Congress. We were preparing for the Lok Sabha elections. We wanted to relax in the hotel and then panic spread in the JDS and Congress," he told the media on Thursday (January 17).

But the excuses may cost the parties dearly in the upcoming general elections, especially the holidaying MLAs of the BJP, with at least 156 talukas of Karnataka being declared drought-ridden, 70 of which fall under the BJP constituencies.