To keep their flocks together, all three political parties in Karnataka — the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Janata Dal (Secular) — have herded most of their legislators to either resorts or hotels in and around Bengaluru. Meanwhile, the rebel legislators who have tendered their resignations are staying put in a Mumbai hotel.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Friday declaring that he would seek a trust vote seems to have created a panic in the Opposition BJP camp, as the party MLAs were shifted to a resort at Yelahanka later in the day. According to sources, the BJP fears that the governing coalition may try to woo some of its MLAs ahead of the trust vote. They would be brought together to the ongoing legislature session on Monday by the party.

BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa, who had a few days ago challenged the coalition leaders to poach their MLAs, on Friday defended the party’s decision to shift its MLAs to a resort by maintaining that the party MLAs wanted to stay together to analyse the political situation.

To arrive at strategy

The Congress took its MLAs to a star hotel at Yeshwantpur in the city. Sources in the party said the MLAs would stay there over the weekend and attend the session on Monday. During the stay, top leaders of the party are expected to hold discussions with the legislators and arrive at a strategy to be adopted during the trust vote in the Legislative Assembly. This is the third time Congress MLAs have been shifted to a hotel/resort since the 2018 elections.

Meanwhile, the JD(S) legislators, who have been staying put for the past three days at a resort near Nandi Hills, were brought to the Vidhana Soudha by a bus on Friday morning for the session and were taken back to the resort later. They will continue to remain there at least till Tuesday when the Supreme Court hears the case of the MLAs who have tendered their resignations.