"They have engineered defection in the ruling party," said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (File)

The Congress on Wednesday wondered if martial law is imposed in Mumbai, alleging that party lawmakers from Karnataka are being kept "in captivity" there and "not allowed to meet a minister".

Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the democratic edifice of Karnataka has been deliberately dismantled by the ruling regime in order to grab power in the state.

"In a deliberate and pre-determined manner, they have engineered defection in the ruling party. So, now a number of MLAs are in captivity of the ruling party," he told reporters outside parliament, alleging that the legislators have been lured and intimidated.

"The MLAs who have been lodged there are in the custody of the ruling party. However, they were desirous to have a meeting with Mr Shivakumar, but, they have not been allowed to meet him. So, it appears that in Mumbai, especially, for Congress, a martial law has been imposed only to prevent the MLAs, who are in captivity of the ruling party, to come forward and talk to Mr Shivakumar," Mr Chowdhury added.

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said the manner, in which Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra government curbed the fundamental right of cabinet minister DK Shivakumar and other Congress leaders, is a danger to democracy.

"So, it is a gross violation of fundamental rights enshrined in our Constitution. So, we have raised the issue inside parliament to draw the attention of the people of our country that those who are outwardly worshipping democracy actually are undermining the edifice of democracy which has been witnessed in Karnataka and in Maharashtra," Mr Chowdhury said.

He alleged that inducement or intimidation are being used as weapons by the ruling regime with a single objective of "capturing" power in Karnataka by any kind of heinous act.

Mr Chowdhury said such is the situation of Karnataka and everybody is aware of it.

He also alleged that Karnataka Minister of Irrigation DK Shivakumar, who had pre-booked a room at a hotel in Mumbai, where he went for some work, was surrounded by police and prevented from entering the place. The hotel management cancelled his booking without citing a reason for doing so.