Congress, JD-S have kidnapped Karnataka MLAs, alleges BJP

PANAJI - Eleven of the rebel Karnataka legislators staying at a five-star resort in Goa have been “forcefully kidnapped” by the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader alleged Saturday.

Speaking to reporters outside the resort, BJP leader Ramesh Katti claimed that senior Goa police officials were used to physically shift the legislators out of a hotel, with the help of hired goons. Katti, a BJP parliamentarian from Karnataka, with other BJP leaders, was trying to lure five BJP and six Independents MLAs back to the BJP fold.

“In all, thirteen MLAs, who include seven BJP MLAs and six Independents, have been kidnapped by the Congress and the JD-S using goons and police machinery,” Katti said. Only two legislators, including Renuka Acharya, managed to evade the “kidnapping attempts”, he added.

“Talks were going well till afternoon. Suddenly police officers came with several goons and physically lifted our MLAs. The Goa police were literally protecting the goons who were manhandling the MLAs,” Katti said.

The MP also said that ministers of the Goa government, including Home Minister Ravi Naik and Public Works Department Minister Churchill Alemao, had been using the state government machinery to intimidate the legislators.

“The JD-S and the Congress are using huge amounts of money… Rs.25 crore is being offered to each MLA to vote for the no-confidence motion,” Katti alleged.

Earlier, BJP leaders claimed that most major issues raised by the dissenting Karnataka legislators had been resolved. North Goa BJP MP Shripad Naik said that things were optimistic for the party.

On Thursday, JD-S leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, who camped in the five-star resort and was holding talks with the rebels, expressed confidence that the B.S. Yeddyurappa government would not last Monday’s trust vote. “Just wait till then. You will realise. All the dissenting MLAs are together and they are united,” Kumaraswamy told reporters, before heading for Bangalore Thursday afternoon.

The JD-S leader, who reached Goa Thursday, refused to reply to questions on whether the JD-S would be supporting a Congress-led government in Karnataka in the near future.

–Indo Asian News Service