The resort politics appears to be finally over with all the Karnataka Congress MLAs shepherded by the party into a luxury establishment near the IT capital since Friday leaving for their respective districts. Earlier , BJP’s legislators who, too, were holed up in a resort in Gurugram in Haryana last week, came back to the state in batches.
The two parties had moved their legislators to resorts for “safe keeping” following attempts that each of them was making to woo members of the Opposition camp.
For now though the Congress will heave a sigh of relief, albeit for a short time perhaps, as it was able to put up a show of strength at the specially convened legislators’ meeting on Friday.
Earlier, senior Congress leader, Ramalinga Reddy, said the party had decided against holding its scheduled CLP meeting on Monday. Most of the MLAs, he added, had vacated the resort as “everything was in order now,” referring obviously to the party’s success in thwarting BJP’s attempt to lure its MLAs.
READ | Karnataka Congress MLA JN Ganesh apologises for brawl that landed party MLA in hospital
The CLP’s meeting in the morning was scrapped following the death of the 111-year-old Siddaganga Mutth seer, Shivakumara Swamiji.
Meanwhile, MLA Anand Singh, who was injured in an alleged scuffle with another Congress MLA J N Ganesh inside the Eagleton Resort near Bengaluru on Saturday night, is still in hospital. Though the party said he was injured after a fall, and that there was no fighting between its lawmakers “as alleged by the BJP”, the state unit has suspended J N Ganesh, who was slapped with a case of attempt to murder for allegedly hitting Anand Singh.
The Pradesh Congress said in a release in Bengaluru that KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao had ordered suspension of MLA J N Ganesh with immediate effect, pending inquiry.
We at Congress show zero tolerance towards violence by any of our representatives. Based on preliminary information gathering about the recent reports of brawl between MLAs, @KPCCPresident Shri. @dineshgrao has ordered for the suspension of Shri. J N Ganesh, MLA, Kampli. pic.twitter.com/GkqUOXVvYE
— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) January 21, 2019
A special inquiry committee committee had been constituted under the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, with ministers K J George and Krishna Byre Gowda as other members. The release said the committee had been asked to submit its report at the earliest.
The attempt to murder case was registered on a complaint by Singh. The FIR said Ganesh, one of the MLAs reportedly under the BJP lens for desertion, had also been charged with causing grievous injuries and giving threats.
Singh alleged that Ganesh waylaid him when he was on way to his room after dinner on Saturday night, and that the latter was upset with him for not financially helping him during the Assembly elections in May.
According to the FIR, an argument followed and Ganesh assaulted him with a stick and a pot.
MLA JN Ganesh has since apologised for the incident.
In New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi however played down the incident and accused the BJP of spreading misinformation.
“There is no fighting. I think the BJP stands exposed. The official version which we have heard it, somebody suffered a fall,” Singhvi told reporters.
Asked about the alleged violence, he said, “This is your version, I don’t know about it.”
Singhvi alleged that the BJP was trying to bribe Congress MLAs in Karnataka.
“It is openly trying to lure MLAs. We have heard of it in Tamil Nadu, we have heard of it in Karnataka, we have heard of it in Karnataka earlier, we have heard of it in Gujarat, we have direct evidence virtually,” he said.
(With agency inputs)