Missing Anand Singh, Patil send rumour mills buzzing

BENGALURU: Two missing Congress MLAs have been the butt of gossip from the time the government formation crisis erupted.Two-time Vijayanagara (Ballari) MLA Anand Singh has been doing a flip-flop on his support to the Congress. Initially, there were reports that Singh was in touch with Congress leader D K Shivakumar and he had even sent a letter to him extending unconditional support to the party.But some TV reports on Thursday evening said that the mining baron from Ballari would resign from the Congress after taking oath as the member of the Karnataka assembly. Singh also reportedly told some channels that he will not join the BJP.Congress MLA Pratapgouda Patil, who successfully contested from Maski in Raichur left the Eagleton Resort citing health reasons. Patil had won for the first time from the BJP ticket in 2008 and contested on a Congress ticket in the recent polls.Sensing that there was a BJP wave in north Karnataka, Patil had reportedly sought a BJP ticket but the party denied it.Kudligi MLA Nagendra, a relative of B Sreeramulu, is also expected to support BJP along with Singh though he is still visibly seen in the Congress camp. Afzalpur MLA MY Patil is also reportedly in touch with BJP leaders.BJP’s sources claim four Congress and JD(S) MLAs from Hyderabad-Karnataka region are in touch with the saffron party leaders. A Belagavi report said BJP strongman in the district, Balachandra Jarkhiholi, too is missing from the deliberations in the saffron party camp.MLA UT Khader was allowed to visit Mangaluru due to Ramzan. He later returned to Bengaluru.