Rebel JD (S), BJP MLAs taken to Goa, Chennai
by KG Vasuki/ S Jayakumar

     Bangalore/Chennai: As terms like 'horse trading' and 'poaching' become synonyms in the Indian political dictionary, so is the event of putting one's own MLAs under virtual 'house arrest' in five-star hotels gaining popularity in political circles. The present political turmoil in Karnataka is no exception, as both the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and the rebel Janata Dal (Secular) have transferred their flock of legislators to Chennai and Goa respectively to prevent them from "getting poached by the Congress." Seventy-two BJP MLAs have already been shifted to the 'safe haven' of a luxury hotel in Chennai. Krishmaiya Shetty, a BJP MLA from Karnataka had only this to say, "We are maintaining confidentiality. We are about seventy, all the BJP MLAs." They arrived in Chennai late last night by a special Kingfisher flight and were whisked away to a hotel. They will be staying in the hotel till the vote of confidence is taken on the floor of Karnataka Assembly on January 27.

    Meanwhile, Kumaraswamy has gone a step further by sending his thirty-five MLAs to an undisclosed place. Reluctant to reveal any details, his loyalists told newspersons that "they are sending them somewhere in Goa." The incidents have evoked the memories of the drama surrounding the government formation in Bihar and Jharkhand last year. The period then witnessed the exodus of the BJP MLAs to Rajasthan, a BJP-friendly state, so as to prevent them from getting poached by the opposition party. In the current legislative assembly in Karnataka, the JD (S) and the BJP have more than 123 MLAs in their fold which is above the half way mark of 113, thereby ensuring the combination's right to stake a claim to form the next government in the state. However, with the political situation being very fluid in Karnataka, every party is playing it safe. Earlier, in an interview to a TV news channel, HD Kumaraswamy Gowda, the son of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who has 'split' the JD (S), told that he would not join the Congress again to form the government. "No, I will not. Because, Congress does not keep its word. On one side they say they have to maintain their secular credentials, but on the other hand they are slipping away from this secular image to try and become strong. That's why I don't want to continue my association with the Congress," Kumaraswamy Gowda said.

   However, his take on BJP was equally confusing. "We are not joining the BJP. We are maintaining our secular stand and ideas. We are not going to spoil our party policy. We will maintain our secular ideology," Kumaraswamy Gowda added. Denying any split with his father Kumaraswamy Gowda said that "there is no split. JD(S) is one party and we will convince my father and other senior party leaders to join us and we are confident they will listen to us."

    In an another turn of the event, the BJP has demanded that incumbent Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh be asked to take a vote of confidence in the Karnataka Assembly today instead of on January 27, fearing "that any further delay could be used by the Congress for horse-trading." M Venkaiah Naidu, senior BJP leader who was earlier rushed to Bangalore to monitor the situation, returned to New Delhi and told newsmen "that Governor T N Chaturvedi should issue fresh directions for Singh to prove his majority."

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