"Missing" Congress Lawmakers At Bengaluru Hotel? Cops Join Hide-And-Seek
A top police officer in Karnataka, Neelamani Rao, was seen going to Goldfinch Hotel in Bengaluru where the lawmakers are believed to be present.
A top Karnataka police officer was seen going to a hotel in Bengaluru to look for 'missing' MLAs
BENGALURU, KARNATAKA: Two Congress lawmakers were missing from the Karnataka assembly just three hours before an all-important trust vote that will decide the future of the minority government of the BJP's Yeddyurappa. The Congress alleged that they were being held captive at a hotel in Bengaluru by the BJP.
Senior police officers, including the commissioner T Suneel Kumar, visited the Goldfinch hotel, where the lawmakers, Anand Singh and Pratap Gowda Patil, are believed to be in a room locked from inside.
Karnataka's top police officer Neelamani Rao was also expected to go to the hotel. Sources said Ms. Rao, the Director General of Police, wanted to check if the lawmakers had been held captive or were there of their own free will. Their families had also been informed, the sources said.
The lawmakers, the Congress alleged, had been flown into Bengaluru on a chartered flight by BJP legislator Somasekhara Reddy, who was also missing from the assembly.
Somasekhara Reddy is the brother of Janardhana Reddy, the mining kingpin closely associated with the BJP though the party has officially disowned him.
"We have issued a whip to the two MLAs that they should be present in the house," said Congress MP DK Suresh, who tried to meet the legislators but was not allowed to enter beyond the reception by the police.
The hotel, swarming with policemen and reporters, became a hub of the political thriller playing out in Karnataka.
The BJP has 103 lawmakers, seven short of the 111-majority mark. The Congress, two down, for now, can count only 76 lawmakers and the Janata Dal-Secular has 37.
Senior police officers, including the commissioner T Suneel Kumar, visited the Goldfinch hotel, where the lawmakers, Anand Singh and Pratap Gowda Patil, are believed to be in a room locked from inside.
Karnataka's top police officer Neelamani Rao was also expected to go to the hotel. Sources said Ms. Rao, the Director General of Police, wanted to check if the lawmakers had been held captive or were there of their own free will. Their families had also been informed, the sources said.
Karnataka Congress lawmakers are staying at Bengaluru's Goldfinch hotel
"We have issued a whip to the two MLAs that they should be present in the house," said Congress MP DK Suresh, who tried to meet the legislators but was not allowed to enter beyond the reception by the police.
The hotel, swarming with policemen and reporters, became a hub of the political thriller playing out in Karnataka.
The BJP has 103 lawmakers, seven short of the 111-majority mark. The Congress, two down, for now, can count only 76 lawmakers and the Janata Dal-Secular has 37.
Every vote counts, said Congress leaders, expressing confidence that the missing lawmakers would return and vote with the party.
Anand Singh had earlier been quoted by the Congress as well as Janata Dal-Secular that he had been "kidnapped" and threatened with criminal action by the Enforcement Directorate in an illegal mining case against him.
Anand Singh had earlier been quoted by the Congress as well as Janata Dal-Secular that he had been "kidnapped" and threatened with criminal action by the Enforcement Directorate in an illegal mining case against him.
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