Karnataka turmoil: Youth Cong protests outside Haryana resort

New Delhi/Gurugram, January 16

A group of Youth Congress workers on Wednesday protested outside a resort in Haryana where the BJP’s Karnataka MLAs have been camping in an “effort to thwart any poaching attempt” by the JD(S)-Congress ruling coalition.

Around 20 Youth Congress workers led by the party’s Haryana Pradesh Congress general secretary Pradeep Singh raised slogans against the NDA government outside the five-star ITC Grand Bharat resort located on the outskirts of Gurugram.

The protesters alleged that the BJP was “disrespecting the Constitution and murdering democracy” in the country.

Meanwhile, sources said BJP’s Karnataka unit chief BS Yeddyurappa is likely to hold a meeting with the party MLAs who are camping at the resort and discuss the prevailing situation in the state.

They said the 104 BJP legislators would stay put till the top leaders in the party gave their nod to return to Karnataka.

Mobile phones of the first-time MLAs had been “kept aside” to safeguard them against any poaching attempt, sources said.

A political crisis is brewing in Karnataka, where two Independent MLAs on Tuesday withdrew support to the seven-month-old ministry amid trading of poaching charges by the ruling coalition and BJP.

Union minister DV Sadananda Gowda had said on Tuesday that the BJP would stake claim to power in Karnataka if the Congress-JDS coalition government fell.

Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, however, reiterated that he enjoyed the support of 120 MLAs and alleged that Yeddyurappa was making “futile attempts” to destabilise his government.

In the 224-member Assembly, the BJP has 104 members, Congress 79, JDS 37, BSP, KPJP and Independent one each, besides the Speaker. PTI