Asserting that it was united, Karnataka Congress on Friday took its MLAs to a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru after a key party meeting, in order to thwart a rebellion in the party and an alleged attempt by the BJP bring down the alliance government led by JD(S)’s HD Kumaraswamy in the last few days.
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah announced the move after four rebel MLAs, Ramesh Jarkiholi, B Nagendra, Umesh Jadhav and Mahesh Kumathahalli, gave the Congress legislature party (CLP) meeting a miss.
To escape the onslaught of the BJP, and as a pre-emptive measure, “we will do that,” he said.
Congress leader and state minister DK Shivakumar confirmed that the MLAs will be taken to Eagleton resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru. This is the same resort where Gujarat Congress MLAs were kept in 2017 during the Rajya Sabha elections from that state.
According to a tweet by ANI, the MLAs had reached the resort around 9 pm.
Of the four rebel MLAs, B Nagendra had sought to skip the meeting due to a court hearing he had to attend, whereas Umesh Jadhav sought to be excused as he was unwell and far away.
{{/usCountry}}Of the four rebel MLAs, B Nagendra had sought to skip the meeting due to a court hearing he had to attend, whereas Umesh Jadhav sought to be excused as he was unwell and far away.
{{/usCountry}}Ramesh Jarkiholi and Mahesh Kumathahalli did not contact the leadership, Siddaramaiah said, adding that they will be asked to prove the reason for their absence. Notices will be issued, and their responses will be discussed with the party president, he said.
The four rebel MLAs were reported to have been staying at a Mumbai hotel and have been in touch with the BJP.
‘BJP trying to destabilise govt’
In a sharp attack on the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, Siddaramaiah said Congress MLAs were offered Rs 50-70 crore and promised minister posts. “I have proof,” he said, and asked how come a ‘chowkidar’ (gatekeeper, referring to PM Modi) has so much money?
“BJP was trying to create a conspiracy and twice now they have faced humiliation. They are trying to destabilise Karnataka government. This is because they are strong in only one southern state. For this reason, shamelessly, they have instigated this (rebellion),” he said.
“Hence, to show that speculation was wrong, we have showcased our unity. Our party is intact, united,” he said, citing the 76 MLAs present at the CLP meeting.
Congress has 80 MLAs and is part of the 118 members in the JD(S)-Congress coalition, well above the majority mark of 113. A few days back, two independent MLAs had withdrawn support from the alliance.
Analysis | The BJP doesn’t have too many options in Karnataka
Earlier, Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa had dismissed the allegations, saying it was the grand old party’s responsibility to keep its flock together and his party had nothing to do with the “confusion” in the ruling coalition in the southern state.
He also said the allegations that the BJP was trying to poach Congress MLAs were “far from the truth”.
“It is far from the truth that we are causing confusion in the Congress-JD(S) coalition. We 104 people (BJP MLAs) are together and one. Our only intention is to win 20 Lok Sabha seats (in Karnataka) and we are making preparations for it,” Yeddyurappa said.
The 104 BJP MLAs were reported to be kept in a resort in Gurgaon, fearing poaching by the ruling parties.
In a warning to dissenters, Siddaramaiah made it clear that proceedings under the anti-defection law would be launched.
What worked in the party’s favour was the fact that the dissidents could not muster much support.
“The problem is that no legislator is in a position to resign and face the people once again for a bye-election. This is why we decided to force their hand in the matter and issued the notice to attend the meeting,” the Congress leader said.
(With agencies inputs)