Following the fractured Karnataka mandate, which rendered the BJP eight seats short of majority, a JD(S) + Congress combine emerged as surprise contenders, after the majority partner Congress promised the Chief Ministerial position to the JD(S), which has won a mere 38 seats.
Later owing to the fears of BJP poaching their MLAs, the Congress and JD(S) decided to round up their MLAs and send them to the Eagleton resort near Bangalore to keep them ‘safe’.
An early flaw was exposed in the painstaking plans of these parties after it was reported that Congress’ re-elected MLA from Maski – Pratapgouda Patil, managed to unshackle himself from his party’s grasp and escape to an undisclosed location in a private jet. It was believed that he never boarded the bus to the resort.
His fellow MLAs though weren’t as fortunate and they have been virtually imprisoned in the resort since yesterday night.
The Congress party might have received another blow in this regards, after local news channel News9 posted a video which shows a Congress MLA walking out of the Eagleton resort, where he was being supposedly imprisoned:
#KarnatakaKurukshetra: Newly elected #Humnabad#Congress MLA Rajashekar Patil leaves Eagleton resort in #Bidadi citing health reasons. Cops stop MLA at the gate & let him leave after speaking to #DKSuresh over phone. Rajashekar Patil is reportedly on BJP’s MLA list. pic.twitter.com/6DlEkWn0b0
— NEWS9 (@NEWS9TWEETS) May 17, 2018
The said video shows the Congress MLA Rajashekhar Patil leaving in his car owing to certain “health reasons”. He though was stopped by the police, who subsequently allowed him free passage after speaking to Congress MP DK Suresh. The NEWS9 report also claimed that Patil is one of the MLAs the BJP is wooing.
Besides this, a Swarajya report with regards to the matter has made a sensational claim that apart from Patil, six other MLAs too have walked out of the resort, which might potentially signal death for the Congress + JD(S) alliance.
It though remains to be seen whether the escaping MLAs have some plans of their own, or whether their disappearance is directly connected to the BJP hunting for ways to get a majority.
