Cong MLAs seek security assurance to return home
BENGALURU: The Congress legislators from Gujarat staying at a resort outside Bengaluru are willing to return home if state chief minister Vijay Rupani promises their safety, party spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said on Sunday.
The party shepherded 44 lawmakers on Friday night to the holiday retreat in Karnakata after a spate of resignation of its MLAs amid allegations that the ruling BJP in Gujarat were bribing and coercing them ahead of the August 8 vice-presidential election. “We have been threatened, offered money to defect and some have done so,” Gohil, the Congress MLA for Abdasa in the Kutch region, told reporters.
The BJP denied the charges and criticised the Congress legislators for leaving the state when it was reeling under floods.
Chief minister Rupani visited flood-affected districts in northern Gujarat during the day.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar said in New Delhi that the opposition lawmakers were having fun at a resort when their BJP counterparts were busy providing relief to the flood-hit people. “Gujarat Congress leaders are making allegations against the BJP in Bengaluru. It is like a thief attacking a cop. If their leaders are leaving them, it has nothing to do with us,” he said.
The Congress responded that its MLAs have not abandoned their constituencies, but were compelled by the BJP to move out. “There is an attempt by the BJP to steal our legislators. But we will fight to save democracy,” Govil said.
Dhirubhai Chunilalbhai Bhil, a five-time legislator, alleged that as much as Rs 20 crore was offered to defect.