And the political drama in Karnataka continues- from BS Yeddyurappa swearing in despite minority government to Congress-JD(S) MLAs protesting. The protests reached Bihar & Goa.
And now the parties have decided to protect their MLAs from being poached.
The Congress-JD(S) MLAs are reported to be shifted to Hyderabad Telangana. Previously, it was only the JD(S) who were to be in Hyderabad while Congress MLAs were to be in Cochin, Kerala.
The MLAs are reported to arrive in luxury buses. Prior to this, they were to reach their destinations by flights. But the flights were denied permission to take-off. The Congress-JD(S) criticized this move as a “brazen move to choke efforts” to safeguard the MLAs and had accused that the DGCA had “unofficially” sent out a word to keep the flights grounded.
This claim was dismissed by a senior aviation ministry official, saying that the DGCA permission is not required for flights within the country. And it is untrue that the aviation authorities did not allow the charter flights to take-off, he added.
The Congress alleges that one of its lawmakers, Anand Singh, has already been threatened and is under pressure to defect.
“All MLAs are here except Anand Singh,” confirmed DK Singh, a Congress MP, at the state assembly Vidhan Souda, where the party’s legislators had gathered for a protest.
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JDS Leader HD Kumaraswamy said Anand Singh had been threatened with action by the Enforcement Directorate in an illegal mining case.
“Our plan is to safeguard MLAs. The BJP and their ministers are working to purchase MLAs, people should know about the attitude of the central government,” said Mr Kumaraswamy, who had asked Governor Vajubhai Vala to invite him to form a government in alliance with the Congress.
Last evening, a busload of Congress legislators has moved around, first to the Governor’s house for a possible show of strength, then to the Eagleton Resorts near Bengaluru, a private property that has become a go-to destination for “resort politics”.
The lawmakers were constantly on the move as news emerged that the governor had decided to invite BS Yeddyurappa and given him two weeks to prove his majority.
Last year, the Congress had kept its Gujarat legislators in the same resort ahead of the Rajya Sabha election, when its candidate Ahmed Patel was facing a BJP rival and every vote became crucial.
The JDS lawmakers spent the night at the Shangrila hotel in Bengaluru.
The newly elected Karnataka MLAs already had an offer from Kerala on the day the results threw up a hung verdict.
Kerala Tourism, however, was widely seen as ribbing the Karnataka politicians as it tweeted: “After the rough and tumble of the #KarnatakaVerdict, we invite all the MLAs to unwind at the safe and beautiful resorts of Gods Own Country. #ComeOutAndPlay.” The tweet was later deleted.
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