Missing ‘horses’ are back in Congress stable

Missing ‘horses’ are back in Congress stable

FPJ BureauUpdated: Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 03:21 AM IST
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Bengaluru: Karnataka’s political drama is turning out to be full of sound and fury signifying nothing. In an anti-climax, two Congress MLAs who had disappeared — Anand Sngh and L B P Bheema Naik — returned to the Congress fold on Wednesday, ending the poaching drama of which the principle actor seemed to be the BJP. While Anand Singh had made his stand clear on Tuesday itself, Naik made his dramatic re-entry into Congress orbit on Wednesday.

There was jubilation in the Congress camp even as the BJP leaders vanished without bothering to comment on the development. The Congress now plans to hold a legislature party meeting on Friday in Bengaluru to show its strength. However, there are hush-hush talks that six Congress MLAs are still upset and may put pressure on the party to accommodate them in the Cabinet.

Significantly, the two MLAs returned just hours after irrigation minister and Congress party’s trouble-shooter DK Shivkumar touched down in Mumbai where the two MLAs were reportedly hiding. Naik met Congress general secretary in charge of state KC Venugopal and said there was no truth to the allegation that he had been approached by the BJP.

The fact that his mobile had been switched off had led to speculation that he was one among five Congress MLAs who had switched sides. “I have two mobile numbers and one of them was switched off. There is no truth to these allegations against me. I have not been approached by the BJP,” Naik told reporters. Home minister MB Patil maintained there was no question of any operation to poach Congress MLAs. “All of our leaders are in touch with us and they will arrive for the legislature party meeting, where everybody will see that we are united and that this government is strong,” he said.

“In fact, one of the independent MLAs who withdrew support on Tuesday also got in touch with us, expressing his desire to join us again,” Patil added. State Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao said the drama that unfolded over the past few days had exposed the BJP and its “unethical politics”. “Today the nation is a witness to the level to which the BJP is willing to stoop to destabilise a state government. These past two days have only strengthened our coalition further,” he said.

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