Four Congress MLAs were missing at the CLP meeting called by the party on Friday amid an alleged attempt by the BJP to poach its MLAs and destabilise the coalition government led by JD(S)’s HD Kumaraswamy.

Rebels Ramesh Jarkiholi, B Nagendra, Umesh Jadhav and Mahesh Kumathahalli have not arrived for the meeting.

While B Nagendra had reportedly sought to skip the meeting due to a court hearing he had to attend, Umesh Jadhav sought to be excused as he was unwell.

The rebel MLAs were reported to staying at a Mumbai hotel and in touch with the BJP.

Apart from these legislators, MLA B Narayan Rao is arriving from Hyderabad, but has informed that his flight got delayed.

Minister Puttaranga Shetty of Chamrajnagar is said to be on the way.

Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara had earlier said that all the Congress MLAs will attend the meeting, scheduled to begin soon.

Stating that the agenda of the CLP was yet to be decided, Parameshwara said two-three issues like the preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and the political developments in the state will be discussed.

Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa on Friday said it was the Grand Old Party’s responsibility to keep its flock together and his party had nothing to do with the “confusion” in the ruling coalition in the southern state.

He also said the allegations that the BJP was trying to poach Congress MLAs were “far from the truth”.

“It is far from the truth that we are causing confusion in the Congress-JD(S) coalition. We 104 people (BJP MLAs) are together and one. Our only intention is to win 20 Lok Sabha seats (in Karnataka) and we are making preparations for it,” Yeddyurappa said.

Yeddyurappa also said that he was not bothered about the CLP meeting. “They are saying so many things, I am not responsible for that,” he said, refusing to comment further.

Congress leader in Karnataka Dinesh Gundu Rao said, “We’re confident everybody is going to be there. We’re confident of our numbers. We’re confident of the stability of this government. BJP is trying its best to topple this government.”

There is no clarity on whether any of the Congress’s 80 MLAs are still missing. One of the alleged dissenters, B Nagendra, arrived in the state capital to attend a court hearing and rubbished speculation that he had been poached by the BJP, but was unsure if he would attend Friday’s meeting.

“I have come to the city for a court hearing. There is no operation (to poach Congress MLAs). I went to Mumbai for personal reasons as I have business there. I keep going there often,” Nagendra said, insisting that he had never been out of contact.

In a warning to dissenters, former chief minister Siddaramaiah made it clear that proceedings under the anti-defection law would be launched against those who fail to turn up at the meeting of lawmakers.

Analysis | The BJP doesn’t have too many options in Karnataka

A senior Congress leader, who did not wish to be named, said the dissidents had been thwarted in their attempt to muster more support.

“From the beginning, it was clear that there were at best around five people who would even think of such a move (switching sides),” this person said.

What worked in the party’s favour was the fact that the dissidents could not muster much support.

“The problem is that no legislator is in a position to resign and face the people once again for a bye-election. This is why we decided to force their hand in the matter and issued the notice to attend the meeting,” the Congress leader said.

First Published: Jan 18, 2019 15:30 IST