BENGALURU: The Congress on Wednesday has reportedly booked a resort in Bengaluru for its winning MLAs to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from poaching them. The booking has reportedly been done in the Eagleton resort in Bengaluru. After Karnataka threw a fractured mandate in the Assembly elections on Tuesday, hectic parleys are underway by the Congress-JDS and the BJP to form the government in the state.
Meanwhile, Karnataka caretaker chief minister Siddaramaiah has dismissed reports that some Congress MLA is missing. He said that the party has a plan to safeguard all lawmakers. Congress MLA Amaregouda Linganagouda Patil Bayyapur said he had been approached by the BJP and even offered a ministerial berth. JDS leader Danish Ali has also targeted the BJP saying that if the Governor does not invite the JDS-Congress alliance to form government, it would be death of democracy.
However, BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the people of Karnataka have chosen them over the Congress and the JDS, and accused them of forming an “unethical and unholy alliance”. He said that as people have voted for the BJP, they will form the government. He also recalled that Congress president Rahul Gandhi had insulted former prime minister and JDS leader HD Deve Gowda, pointing that the Gandhi scion had called the JDS a B-team of the BJP.
Karnataka delivered a hung Assembly on Tuesday with no party getting a clear majority to form government in the state. While BJP emerged as the single-largest party, winning 104 seats, the Congress and the Janata Dal Secular stood second and third with wins on 78 and 38 seats respectively. Even before full results could come in, intense political parley began with the Congress and the JDS declaring that they would jointly form the government in Karnataka. However, the single largest party refused to budge, and ultimately both the sides met Governor Vajubhai Vala and staked claims to form the government. As the Governor is yet to give his decision on the issue, it’s expected to be another day of the race to Vidhan Soudha.
