Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy (left) with Congress leader Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru. (File) Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy (left) with Congress leader Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru. (File)

A Congress MLA was hospitalised on Sunday morning after an alleged brawl with a party colleague at Bengaluru’s Eagleton Resort, where the lawmakers were shifted two days ago ostensibly to protect them from poaching attempts by the BJP.

Kampi MLA JN Ganesh allegedly hit Vijayanagara MLA Anand Singh on his head with a liquor bottle amid a heated argument, the News Minute quoted Congress sources as saying.

The two reportedly had an argument over Ganesh trying to defect to the BJP, reports said. However, senior Congress leaders denied the reports and leader DK Suresh, who visited the hospital to meet him, said Singh was admitted due to chest pain.

“I don’t know about the fight. Anand Singh is admitted in hospital due to chest pain. There are no injuries or anything. His parents are here at the hospital. Other issues are just speculations,” ANI quoted Suresh as saying.

Speaking to the media, Water Resource Minister DK Shivakumar rubbished reports that the two MLAs were involved in a brawl. “There was no fight, no assault, no liquor bottles; both the MLAs will speak to the media soon,” DK Shivakumar said.

Even Karnataka deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara downplayed reports of adverse events at the resort. “When one of our colleagues isn’t well, if it’s true, naturally somebody would’ve gone to see him. I don’t know who the person is,” ANI quoted Parameshwara as saying.

What more proof do we need to tell all is not well within Congress.. Congress MLA’s in Eagleton resort indulged in physical fight & 1 MLA is admitted. How long will congress be in denial mode & blame BJP for all their differences? When political party is lame, it loves to blame pic.twitter.com/4IWSr5xUWi — BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) January 20, 2019

Hospital sources, however, said Singh had “a black eye and suffered blunt injuries”. He had also complained of uneasiness in the chest but was now in the ward and “fine”, PTI quoted hospital sources as saying.

Congress spokesperson Madhu Goud Yakshi said the scuffle had nothing to do with politics and was business related. “It was personal, district related. They are all together in the business. The scuffle has nothing to do with politics. They come from the same district and have business relations. It (the fight) is something related to that,” PTI quoted Yakshi as saying.

The Bidadi police, under whose jurisdiction the resort is located, said no complaint had been filed yet. A posse of policemen have been deployed in front of the hospital with no visitor being allowed.

The BJP was quick to pounce upon the reports and said it was the proof of infighting within the Congress. “What more proof do we need to tell all is not well within Congress. Congress MLA’s in Eagleton resort indulged in a physical fight and one MLA is admitted. How long will Congress be in denial mode and blame BJP for all their differences? When political party is lame, it loves to blame,” BJP Karnataka tweeted.

The BJP also demanded that the Congress suspend the MLA responsible for the attack on Anand Singh and “uphold constitutional values”.

Congress MLA’s fear for life under HDK govt.@siddaramaiah preaches everyone of Constitutional values, we demand @dineshgrao & @siddaramaiah to immediately suspend their party MLA responsible for attack on MLA Anand Singh & uphold constitutional values.@CPBlr kindly act. — BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) January 20, 2019

At the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on Friday, four party MLAs out of 79 failed to turn up. Two MLAs skipped the meeting after informing the party leadership that they have urgent matters to attend to, while the other two did not give a reason for their absence.

Following the meeting, the lawmakers were taken to Eagleton Resort, where 44 Congress MLAs from Gujarat were sheltered in 2017 before the Rajya Sabha polls.

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