4 Karnataka Congress MLAs skip meet, rest shifted to resort

BENGALURU: The battle for power between the opposition BJP and the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka took a twist on Friday with the grand old party being pushed on the back foot.


After four of its dissident MLAs - Ramesh Jarakiholi, Mahesh Kumatalli, Umesh Jadhav and B Nagendra - failed to turn up for the legislature party meeting, Congress packed off its legislators to a resort directly from the Vidhana Soudha, the venue of the meeting.

While Ramesh and Kumatalli remained absent without tendering a reason, Jadhav faxed a letter to CLP leader Siddaramaiah stating that he was ill and was unable to travel. As for Nagendra, Siddaramaiah said he had obtained prior permission from AICC general secretary KC Venugopal to skip the meeting.

Immediately after the meeting, the MLAs were sent to a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru in two buses. They are expected to stay there as long as BJP keeps its flock of legislators in a five-star hotel near Gurgaon. "The decision was inevitable as our eight to 10 MLAs are on the verge of joining BJP," said a Congress minister.

Siddaramaiah also admitted as much. "They (BJP) have been roaming around with suitcases," Siddaramaiah said. "They have resorted to third-rate politics. We have to save ourselves. We were mulling a two-day session for our MLAs on Lok Sabha poll preparations. So the stay at a hotel will serve a dual purpose." Citing the attendance of 76 MLAs at the CLP meeting as proof, he said BJP's claims of MLAs switching sides are wrong. He accused PM Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah of supporting state BJP leaders' dubious means to topple the government.




However, many MLAs believe the decision to move to a resort is unnecessary. "MLAs have honoured the party's diktat and attended the meeting," said one MLA. "If they wanted to switch sides, they would have done so by now. It shows the party has no confidence in us."

As for the missing MLAs, Siddaramaiah said the party will issue notice to both Ramesh and Kumatalli, seeking an explanation for their absence. "We will take disciplinary action after receiving their replies," he said.