Digvijaya Singh detained in Bengaluru after sitting on dharna outside hotel lodging 21 rebel Cong MLAs

On Wednesday, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh was detained after he sat on a dharna outside Ramada hotel in Bengaluru.

Digvijaya Singh was sitting on dharna outside Ramada hotel in Bengaluru, where 21 rebel Congress MLAs are lodged. The senior Congress leader has alleged that he was not allowed by police to meet MLAs. Later, Digvijaya Singh was placed under preventive arrest, reported news agency ANI.

"We were expecting them to come back, but when we saw they're being held back, messages came from their families...I personally spoke to 5 MLAs, they said they're captive, phones snatched away, there is Police in front of every room. They're being followed 24/7," Digvijaya Singh told ANI.

Digvijaya Singh, who arrived in Bengaluru today, was received by Congress state president DK Shivakumar. 21 rebel Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs are currently lodged at Ramada hotel in the city. The Supreme Court will hear today the petition filed by former Madhya Pradesh CM and BJP leader, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and others to hold floor test in the State Assembly.

The Congress has also challenged the "unconstitutional" messages sent by the Governor on three occasions to conduct the floor test in the absence of 16 MLAs. The MLAs have urged the apex court that they have already tendered resignations therefore floor test cannot be withheld under the pretext of their unavailability. The Congress contests this argument by stating that 22 MLAs who represent 22 constituencies almost 10 per cent of the total seats have purportedly resigned and the electorate of these constituencies are completely unrepresented.

(Inputs from Agencies)