india

Updated: Jul 08, 2019 09:04 IST

Rebel Karnataka Congress-JD (S) legislators came out in the open on Sunday, claiming they will not withdraw their resignations and have come to Mumbai on their free will.

“We, 13 MLAs, have resigned and will not withdraw it. We will also not attend the CLP (Congress Legislative Party) meet on Tuesday,” said Congress MLA ST Somshekhar.

The rebels are currently lodged in Sofitel hotel at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) for the second day on Sunday. Ten are lodged in Sofitel, while three are in Shirdi.

The entire operation was managed by two top BJP leaders Prasad Lad and Mohit Kambhoj. However, Lad refused to comment on the matter. “I have nothing to say on this issue,” said Lad.

In the morning, Karnataka Congress minority leader Mahendra Singhi arrived at the hotel to meet the legislators. “I just met Ramesh Jarkiholi who is my friend and told him to take a decision which is in favour of Karnataka” said Singhi. He said that everything was normal. “This is like the rain which comes and goes,” he added.

In the evening, Congress workers came in different batches and started protesting against the BJP outside the hotel. They were detained by the police. Congress MLC Bhai Jagtap said he wanted to meet the legislators and understand their grievances. “These MLAs were elected on Congress tickets. They should talk to us and solve the matter,” said Jagtap. However, he wasn’t allowed to enter the hotel. Jagtap accused the BJP of engineering crisis in Karnataka. “The BJP is blatantly using its money and muscle power to lure our MLAs, which is against democracy,” said Jagtap.

Earlier, state Congress chief Ashok Chavan criticised the state. “The Devendra Fadnavis government is collaborating with the Centre to destabilise the Karnataka government,” said Chavan.

A majority of these legislators arrived on Saturday in chartered flights owned by Jupiter Securities, owned by an MP from south India.

The BJP leadership which is determined to form a government in Karnataka has entrusted the responsibility of safety of MLAs to top leaders in the state and Mumbai BJP. The security at the hotel has been beefed up. Incidentally, the employee union at the hotel is affiliated to Shiv Sena, the ruling alliance partner in the state.

This is the second time, the BJP has attempted to topple the Congress-JD (S) government. Early this year, the MLAs were kept at Renaissance Hotel in Powai.