Hubballi (Karnataka), Aug 25 : Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said the 'Operation Hast' is being undertaken by the Congress in fear of failure in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to reporters here, Bommai said, "The surveys in this connection have confirmed that the Congress will get fewer seats. If this happens, it will have a direct bearing on the state government in Karnataka. "In this background, the Congress government is conspiring to pull leaders from other parties and win more seats. The Congress won't succeed in its attempt." When asked about the 'Operation Hast' of the Congress, Bommai stated that CM Siddaramaiah's government is fearful about the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Bommai also charged that the Congress government is issuing notices to journalists who are reporting about corruption and other illegalities and violating the freedom of the press and freedom of speech. "The government is practising dictatorship," he said. The Karnataka Congress party has started welcoming prominent leaders from the opposition parties in the state. Senior leader Ayanur Manjunath from JD(S) and S.P. Nagarajegowda, who contested against BJP MLA B.Y. Vijayendra as an independent candidate and secured second position in the Assembly elections, has joined the Congress party in the presence of DyCM and Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar at the party headquarters in Bengaluru. Shivakumar said that he was happy that the majority of leaders are joining the Congress party. "During the Assembly elections, the party suffered because of a lack of appropriate social engineering. The mistakes would be rectified during the Lok Sabha elections," he added. Shivakumar also stated that anything can happen in politics. The Congress is attempting to pull about 15 prominent leaders majorly from the BJP and also from JD(S). Following the victory in the Assembly elections, Congress wants to win more than 20 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. It had managed to win only one seat in the 2019 Parliamentary elections. /IANS