250 BJP activists drive away 12 K’taka rebel MLAs from city

The city airport saw high drama in the wee hours of Thursday after more than 250 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers assembled at the arrival gate to protest the arrival of 12 BJP MLAs, including two ministers, from Karnataka.

The city airport saw high drama in the wee hours of Thursday after more than 250 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers assembled at the arrival gate to protest the arrival of 12 BJP MLAs, including two ministers, from Karnataka.

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The BJP-led Karnataka government has been asked to prove majority after several of its MLAs deserted the party. The 121 rebels are believed to be in Mumbai to hold talks with other political parties, which plan to form the new government.

The protest, which took place around 3 am, was led by BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde and BJP corporator Ujwala Modak and senior leader Parag Alwani.

The 12 MLAs were scheduled to stay at a five-star hotel near the airport after arriving at the international airport on a Sharjah-Kochi-Mumbai flight.

However, when they tried to leave the airport, Tawde and his associates chased them, forcing them to return to the airport. Finally, airport authorities transported the 12 MLAs from the international to the domestic terminal in a bus within the airport premises. The police, however, insisted that the MLAs stay inside the airport and requested them to leave the city following which the contingent left for Goa at 11.50 am.