Going, going, not gone! MP MLAs stay put
BENGALURU: After spending more than a week at a resort in Bengaluru, Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh finally made a show of returning to Bhopal, only to return after “last-minute change of plans”.With MP Speaker NP Prajapati asking the lawmakers to appear before him in person, Congress and BJP workers had gathered outside the Bhopal airport to ‘receive’ the rebels on Friday evening. While workers from the two parties scuffled, it was all in vain as the legislators, who made it to the Bengaluru airport, did not arrive in Bhopal.
The show of departing to the airport, however, was not for nothing. The lawmakers, led by Karnataka BJP General Secretary and Mahadevapura MLA Arvind Limbavalli, reportedly met BJP national president JP Nadda at the Kempegowda International Airport. The lawmakers’ ploy of exiting from the resort with packed luggage in a convoy of cars and arriving at the airport was timed to perfection as Nadda too landed in Bengaluru at the same time. “The legislators met Nadda inside the airport and later, they decided not to return to Bhopal,” said a source.
“The legislators were supposed to come to Bhopal, but they have chosen to stay back in Bengaluru,” said Jitendra Patwari, Higher Education Minister, Madhya Pradesh. Limbavali, who was at the airport to receive Nadda, did not accompany him to an event organised by the party state unit where all key office-bearers, including CM BS Yediyurappa, were present.
Earlier in the day, itineraries of two charted flights scheduled to fly a few MP MLAs were made public. After arrival at the airport, the MLAs got into the departure lounge, but their cars did not leave the airport immediately. They were parked in the VIP lane for a couple of hours before the MP MLAs got into them and sped back to the resorts. The MP Speaker has now set another date for them to appear in person.
On Friday afternoon, a Congress delegation led by state unit president-designate DK Shivakumar, met ADGP Amar Kumar Panday alleging illegal detention of MLAs. Narayan Singh Choudhary, father ofMLA Manoj Choudhary, in a letter to the DG&IGP, alleged that his son was forcibly brought to Bengaluru. “Though my son wanted to meet us, he was not allowed by some people, who are said to be BJP members. They threatened us and took us to the local police station without any reason,” he stated.