Cong, JD(S) may shift MLAs to Kerala to prevent poaching
MOVE Cong legislators are at Eagleton Golf Resort and JD(S) MLAs at ShangriLa Hotel BENGALURU:
The Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) parties are considering shifting their legislators to Kerala to pre-empt any attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party to poach from their numbers, senior Congress leader and MLA Satish Jarkiholi told HT.
While BS Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the chief minister of the state, the BJP does not have a simple majority at this stage. The elections to the state assembly threw up a hung house, with the BJP, the single largest party, getting 104 out of 222 seats (elections to two seats were deferred).
For a simple majority, a party or coalition needs 112 seats. The Congress, which has 78 MLAs, and the JD(S), which has 38 MLAs, together have a majority of seats in the assembly.
Speaking to HT, Jarkiholi said all options to challenge Governor Vajubhai Vala’s decision of inviting the BJP to form the government, despite not having the numbers, were being looked at. “We will move to Kerala because the CPI(M) is governing there and is unlikely to be swayed by the BJP,” he said. Jarkiholi said the leaders had ruled out Tamil Nadu as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) was seen to be close to the BJP’s central leadership.
Earlier, state Congress working president Dinesh Gundu Rao said the Governor’s decision was condemnable. “At present, we have the support of 77 of our MLAs and two independent candidates, apart from the 38 MLAs in JD(S). Anand Singh, the MLA from Vijayanagara said he was unwell and couldn’t turn up, but we believe he will join us shortly,” he said.
The Congress and JD(S) have claimed that their MLAs had received calls from BJP leaders offering them ₹100 crore to defect to the party or vote for Yeddyurappa in the floor test, which would automatically disqualification under defection laws.
However, CS Puttaraju, JD(S) MLA from Melukote in Mandya district said, the final call on moving to Kerala was yet to be taken. “As of now, there is another line of thinking that we should wait for the Supreme Court hearing on Friday before deciding our future course of action,” he said.
Puttaraju said there had been no contact between JD(S) MLAs and the BJP since Wednesday.
Party leader HD Kumaraswamy had claimed on Wednesday that the BJP had offered ₹100 crore to MLAs to defect. “Right now, a strong message has been sent to the BJP that our legislators will stand their ground. So, there has been no attempt to approach us,” he said.
Currently, the Congress MLAs are staying at the Eagleton Golf Resort on the outskirts of the city. JD(S) MLAs are staying at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bengaluru city.